Seminar on 'community of common destiny' attracts scholars from 30 countries

China and countries along the Maritime Silk Road should enhance mutual understanding and cooperation and establish exchange mechanisms for future development, said Jiang Jianguo, director of the State Council Information Office.

"We should join hands together, seek common ground and reserve differences on the building of flourishing economic and trade ties," Jiang said on Wednesday during the opening ceremony of an international seminar on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in Quanzhou, a major port in East China's Fujian province.

Jiang said the seminar brings experts and think tanks together to share ideas on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road development."It will surely bring new vigor, vitality and prosperity to the countries involved," he said.

The seminar, which aims to deepen economic cooperation and promote cultural as well as people-to-people exchanges among countries along the Maritime Silk Road, has the theme of "collectively building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and creating a community of common destiny".

The two-day event has attracted more than 200 scholars from more than 30 countries, including the United States, Japan, Turkey and Egypt.

Several round-table meetings, on such topics as the value and significance of the Maritime Silk Road initiative and working together for common development and prosperity, will be held during the seminar.

President Xi Jinping proposed in 2013 that China and countries along the ancient Maritime Silk Road should together build a new Maritime Silk Road of the 21st century, with the aim of reviving the ancient trade route to benefit the countries and peoples involved.

The Maritime Silk Road, which ran from China through Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean to Europe, started about the time of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) and reached its peak during the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368).

You Quan, Party chief of Fujian province, said during the opening ceremony that Fujian province, with its unique geographical advantages and abundant maritime resources, will play a vital role in the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The province is now speeding up construction of the Free Trade Zone, facilitating the building of a transport network and stepping up cooperation with countries and regions along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, You said.

Akkan Suver, president of the Turkey-based Marmara Group Foundation, said at a round-table meeting during the seminar: "I strongly believe the development will bring great opportunities and open a new vision for us. Though countries along the route share different political concepts and cultures, the cooperation in developing the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road will surely deepen mutual understanding and bring more opportunities for our future development."

Suver said that the nations involved should seize the opportunity and participate in Maritime Silk Road projects to bring stability and wealth.

Contact the writers at [email protected] and [email protected]