World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations"

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua). – The Chinese Foundation of International Research, together with the World Pubic Forum "Dialogue of Civilization," will hold an international conference on the "Dialogue of Civilizations and a Harmonious World" in Beijing on July 12.

The conference is aimed to enhance the mutual understanding between China and Russia, and peoples in the world, and discuss important issues in political, economic and cultural fields, in the current world, and promote the world peace, harmony and development.
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Zhang Deguang, president of the Chinese Foundation of International Research, and Vladimir Yakunin, president of the World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations", will deliver speeches at the opening session.

The conference will be attended by more than 40 leading experts and scholars from China Institute of International Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Studies, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Center for World Affairs Studies of Xinhua News Agency, Nankai University and other celebrated Chinese research institutions and universities, as well as nearly 40 well-known experts and scholars from Russia, India, Austria, Britain, Italy, France, the United States and Canada.

At the conference, Chinese and foreign scholars will open dialogue on the following issues:
1. The significance of the dialogue of civilizations in the world;
2. The significance of the view of the harmonious world in our times;
3. The international pattern and world order in the post crisis times;
4. The trend of development of the world economy in the post-crisis times;
5. The historical lesson of the international financial crisis;
6. The multicultural harmony and coexistence, and world peace and cultural prosperity;
7. The Chinese culture and the contemporary world;
8. The Slavic culture and the contemporary world;
9. Opening dialogue of civilizations to promote relations between China and Russia.

The sponsors of the conference express the hope that the international meeting in Beijing will make positive contributions to peoples in all the countries for opening dialogue of civilizations and together building a harmonious world.

The Chinese Foundation of International Research, founded in 1999 and formed by more than 200 senior diplomats, leading scholars and experts on international studies, as well as noted entrepreneurs, is one of the most influential think tanks of civil diplomacy in China. The aim of the foundation is to promote the strategic studies of the Chinese academic circles on important international issues, and to enhance the academic exchange and cooperation among research institutions at home and abroad.

The World Pubic Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations," initiated by politicians and scholars from Russia, Iran, India, Greece and Austria and founded in 2002, is a nonofficial dialogue mechanism with international influence, and it has held the international conference on the "Dialogue of Civilizations” in Rhodes, Greece, each year since 2003. The aim of the forums is to unite nonofficial social organizations in all the countries in the world, protect together the human spiritual and cultural wealth, and provide room for the constructive dialogue among the current world civilizations.

President Zhang Deguang, and Vice President Yu Zhenqi of the Chinese Foundation of International Research were invited to attend the annual conference in 2008 and 2009, and reached an agreement on bilateral cooperation with Vladimir Yakunin, President of the World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations”.

It is the first time that the two sides will jointly hold an international conference in China this year.