Ladies and gentlemen, I have a few short remarks. First, the world is indeed undergoing a period of massive change. Yet, these changes can be guided toward a better future if the peoples around the world join hands to grasp opportunities and build and combat common threats and prepare for contingencies ahead.
Second, the world should not be cut we from them according to ideology. My generation from China grew up with ideals of building a modern China with "Mr. De" meaning democracy and "Mr. Sai" meaning science. These were put forward by Chinese Communist party's forefathers about a hundred years ago. Democracy and science have been the pursuit of my generation, and generations before, and generations after. We believe that we are much more closer today to our goal as never before.
Democratic systems are differently structured in different countries. And this is my third point. The ways that the peoples of the EU are delegated are clearly different from that in the U.S. and understandably different from that of China. In China, we invest more in deliberation in the whole process of policymaking, and care more about inputs from common people into policymaking. Casting votes and exercising universal suffrages are taken as procedures and measures to allow people's voices to be better represented, and not as "did and go". Our democracy is evaluated by the satisfactory of people. As Ambassador Qing Gang to the U.S. concluded: "The Chinese model of democracy is characterized as 'from the people, to the people, with the people, for the people.'"
Fourth point, we know that other countries have reasons for their own political constructions, but we do not take the differences as grounds or reasons for conflicts or confrontation. Modern history tells us that coexistence, mutual respects and mutual benefits among countries with different political systems and different ideologies are not only possible, but it is also desirable.
I also see more similarities between our different governances. From previous speeches, I can tell that many governance issues faced in the EU are similar in China. We are dealing with daily issues such as how best to serve people, to care for the aging, to assist the young and the weak, to build a more prosperous and equal society where people enjoy happiness and confidence. Nobody should be left from the trend of development, progress and better lives. In order to serve people better, China has launched a series of reforms to improve our political, social and economic governance. One of the measurements for these reforms is that how close the important decision-making is to the public and how the policies are viewed and evaluated by the broad masses.
Sixth, coming back to the "we and them" issue. I think that demarcation should not be drawn between different nations, different governances, different national house-keepings, but to divide between those who seek for progress and common goods from those who insist on going against the tide of history, insisting on isolation, hedging zero-sum game, etc.
Last, I take today's exchanges organized by the Democracy Forum as valuable and constructive. Thank you all.