China International Studies (English)
People-to-people Exchange and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind
As a key pillar in building a community with a shared future for mankind, peopleto-people exchange helps solidify the major-country diplomacy with Chinese
characteristics. China should take concrete measures with a view to eliminating interference, overcoming prejudice and enhancing mutual trust, thereby promoting the sustainable development of people-to-people exchange.
In major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics for the new era, people-to-people exchange, political and security cooperation, and economic cooperation are the three pillars of China’s foreign policy. With a people-centered approach as its core, people-to-people exchange focuses on equality and mutual learning and aims at achieving win-win cooperation. Promoting people-to-people exchange is vital to cement the social foundation and public support for China’s foreign relations and promote a higher level of opening-up.1 As pointed out in the 19th CPC National Congress report, in handling relations among civilizations, estrangement should be replaced with exchange, clashes with mutual learning, and superiority with coexistence. Deepening people-to-people exchange is of major theoretical and practical importance to building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Basic Meanings of People-to-people Exchange
People-to-people exchange is an ingenious concept of Chinese diplomacy on the basis of Chinese traditional culture. The word “humanity” (renwen) originates from Zhou Yi: “The weak line overlaps with the strong line, suggesting appearances that ornament the sky (tianwen). Elegance and
intelligence (denoted by the lower trigram) regulated by the caesura (denoted by the upper trigram) suggest the observances that adorn human society (renwen). We look at the ornamental figures of the sky (tianwen), and thereby ascertain the changes of the seasons. We look at the ornamental observances of society (renwen), and understand how the processes of transformation are accomplished all under heaven.” The ancient sages of China placed humanity as important as astronomy for its ability of edification.2
Humanism, which entails respect and care for people, is the core spirit of Chinese traditional culture. There have been many schools and sects in Chinese history, and almost all of them value humanism or humanistic spirit. The Confucian ideal of “sagelihood within and kingliness without” focuses on moral self-cultivation; Taoist ideas of “care for both body and soul”, “back to basics” and “Tao operates naturally” value men’s health, life and living environment; Buddhism keeps people charitable by advocating “all beings are equal”, non-killing and “karma,” reflecting its humanistic solicitude.
People-to-people exchange has rich connotations. In a broad sense, it refers to various cultural phenomena in human society and involves all social activities with people as the bearer. In a narrow sense, people-to-people exchange is communicative and interactive in the fields of arts, philosophy, politics, economics, education, journalism and sports. As for a specific country, people-to-people communication primarily includes exchanges of personnel, culture and ideology, aiming at interaction, understanding and mutual-learning among peoples, so that ideas and cultures between countries can converge, collide and attract each other.
People-to-people communication has a rich history. Back in the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian was dispatched as an envoy to the Western Regions. The ancient Silk Road then became an important channel for East-west exchanges. More than 700 years ago, Italy’s Marco Polo came to the East and
wrote a world-famous travel book, presenting a colorful picture of Eastern civilization for Europeans. In the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He led a huge fleet to the Western Seas in his seven voyages and brought silk, tea, porcelain and other products to peoples everywhere he went. Extensive cultural exchanges were conducted and Chinese culture was spread. The magnificent Sam Poo Kong temple in Samarang, a port city of Indonesia, houses many items left by the Zheng He fleet. Since Zheng He believed in Islam, he also introduced Islam to Southeast Asians. Similar examples are countless, and there are colorful cultural exchanges in human history.
Western scholars have done a lot of research on the impact of peopleto-people and cultural exchanges on diplomatic relations. As American scholar Lovell pointed out, we all grow up in the cultural atmosphere, and are bred by customs, values and beliefs within the cultural context. In each country, governing principles and foreign policies are both formulated under a specific cultural background.3 Some American scholars summarize cultural strength as “soft power,” as opposed to “hard power” marked by military, economic and technological strength. In their view, hard power alone cannot resolve many deep-seated contradictions, because in many cases it is necessary to achieve the goal through attraction rather than coercion or inducement. According to American scholar Joseph Nye, the three pillars of soft power are political values, culture, and foreign policy. It involves the ability to shape others’ preferences, and more importantly, the power of attracting people.4 Although his theory of soft power aims at safeguarding the United States’ world hegemony, it provides a new perspective for interpreting the shift of international power after the end of the Cold War.
People-to-people communication includes public diplomacy activities, but transcends the scope of public diplomacy. Public diplomacy by definition often means actions by official institutions of a country towards the foreign
public, which mainly includes introduction of the country’s national conditions and provision of relevant information, aimed at gaining the foreign public’s understanding of that country’s policies. By comparison, people-to-people exchanges can be government-to-government, governmentto-public and public-to-public. As for the form, public diplomacy is more one-way communication or promotion by which governments, as well as NGOS and elites in respective fields, publicize their national conditions or policies from a variety of angles, while people-to-people communication is two-way or multi-directional. It is intended for interactions among countries with different civilizations or institutions, and aimed at promoting understanding and creating mutual trust through the spread of culture, exchange of ideas and mutual learning of civilizations. People-to-people exchanges bear characteristics of wide channels, diverse forms and flexible responses, highlighting influence in a subtle manner.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, President Xi Jinping has repeatedly mentioned the significance of developing cultural and people-topeople exchanges to a strategic height that serves to build the community with a shared future for mankind. In handling relations among civilizations, he urged that estrangement be replaced with exchange, clashes with mutual learning, and superiority with coexistence, which will boost mutual understanding, mutual respect and mutual trust between nations.5 In 2017, the Chinese government issued several opinions on strengthening and improving cultural and people-to-people exchange between China and foreign countries, and formulated relevant specific guidelines. According to the opinions, with the purpose of enhancing bonds and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign peoples, cultural and people-to-people exchange should uphold the principles of putting people first, equality and mutual learning, openness and inclusiveness, institutionalization, multi-party participation and reform and innovation, as it is integrated into all areas of
foreign interactions.6
China’s idea of cultural and people-to-people communication is based on promoting mutual understanding and trust among countries and peoples. With the principles of reciprocity, equality and inclusiveness, it aims to shape a positive national image and gain public support as an important driving force in today’s international relations. People-to-people exchange is a bridge connecting people’s hearts and a bond to deepen understanding and trust between countries. Compared with other means of interactions, it is more basic, extensive, pioneering and persistent.7 In recent years, China has established high-level mechanisms on people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Russia, the US, the UK, the EU, France, Indonesia, South Africa, Germany and India, and kickstarted a high-level consultation mechanism with Japan in 2019.8 Various forms of cultural exchanges are driven by these mechanisms.
Existing concepts such as public diplomacy, folk diplomacy, cultural diplomacy or soft power fail to entirely delimit cultural and people-to-people exchanges, because they fail to capture the transcendence of contemporary Chinese diplomacy over traditional international relations, the innovation of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, and the Chinese people’s unique perception of international relations.9 With the surge of China’s overall national strength, China’s relations with the world today have undergone tremendous changes. For one thing, the international community is eager to deepen exchanges and cooperation with China, to understand Chinese culture and philosophy, and to further share the great dividends that China’s development has brought to the world. For another, some people still harbor misunderstanding, misgivings, prejudice, and even hostility towards China, due to the lack of an overall understanding of Chinese
history, culture, national conditions and public opinions, in addition to the differences in ideology and values. Therefore, cultural and people-to-people exchanges are needed in order to improve the world’s understanding of and trust in China through multiple channels, at different levels, and with a variety of forms.
Significance and Principles of People-to-people Exchange
Building a community with a shared future for mankind is the underlying philosophy of the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy. The philosophy is of great significance to both China’s peaceful development and the world’s prosperity. Based on historical lessons, it reflects, from a strategic standpoint, the vision of Chinese people in their view of the long-term interests of humanity.10 Building a community with a shared future for mankind has been officially written into the CPC Constitution, the Constitution of the PRC, as well as into important resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the Security Council, and the Human Rights Council. As global public goods representing China’s wisdom and solution, it has a profound impact on the future of international relations and the development of human society. Strengthening people-to-people exchanges is a key pillar in building a community with a shared future for mankind.
People-to-people exchange lays the foundation for promoting political mutual trust. Political mutual trust means that the government or the people of one country has the basic understanding and clear recognition of the political system, development path, policy orientation, and basic values of another country. It is also a fundamental element for the longterm cooperation between countries.11 Political mutual trust is established in the process of increasing trust and defusing doubts, while people-topeople exchange is precisely characterized by the power of influencing people
through various means of discourse and achieving the effect of “inspiration for enlightenment.” The China-us “ping-pong diplomacy” in 1971 kickstarted bilateral exchanges that had been cut off for 22 years and marked the opening of the extraordinary China-us relations for more than 40 years. Closer people-to-people exchange is conducive to presenting a clear picture of the country and its people, so that the people of other countries can better understand the country’s history, culture, and institutions. Political mutual trust is out of the question in the absence of wide exchanges, or understanding and appreciation for each other’s choice of development paths.
People-to-people exchange is the guarantee for deepening economic and trade ties. Such cooperation and people-to-people exchange facilitate each other and are mutually reinforcing. Economic globalization has become a general trend with a surge of regional economic zones, which requires a deep understanding of the laws and policies of different countries regarding trade, investment, environment and immigration, as well as their development needs, consumption patterns, culture, etc. Along with the development of economic globalization and the information society, management and consumption have become more personalized, which is closely related to everyone’s knowledge, interests, and values. Only through extensive people-topeople exchanges can we better seize opportunities for economic cooperation and trade. The development of cultural industries driven by such exchanges can also greatly contribute to economic cooperation. Culture, education, sports, tourism and health are becoming emerging industries with increasing economic influence. In particular, since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has signed a series of agreements on educational, scientific, cultural and health cooperation with regional countries, contributing to both people-to-people exchanges and economic cooperation.
People-to-people communication connects people’s hearts. Friendship, which derives from close contact between the people, holds the key to sound state-to-state relations, while relationships between countries will eventually be reflected in the bonds between peoples. People are the best bridge for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Closer people-to-people
exchanges and mutual learning, for that matter, is a sure way to eliminate estrangement and misunderstanding and promote mutual understanding among nations.12 The key to a country’s soft power is to attract people and win hearts and minds with convincing logic and emotional motivation.13 Starting with interaction and mutual knowledge, people-to-people exchanges can mobilize more actors to participate through well-recognized approaches. In particular, face-to-face communication helps clarify thoughts and may further affect government decision-making and interstate relations. Currently, most communication mechanisms in China cover the fields of education, technology, culture, health, sports, women, youth, and regional exchanges. The parallel progress of high-level visits and people-to-people exchanges in these areas is crucial to strengthen mutual learning among civilizations, shape a positive national image, and enhance China’s soft power.
With political security and economic cooperation propelling development forward, people-to-people exchange should further help stabilize international relations, enhance pragmatic cooperation, and promote friendship between peoples, thereby forming a tripartite supporting structure. That will help solidify the major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and bring about steady progress in building a community with a shared future for mankind.14 Generally speaking, the basic principles of people-to-people exchanges include the following aspects.
Equality and mutual respect. All civilizations are rooted in their unique cultural environment. Each embodies the wisdom and vision of a country or nation, and each is valuable for being uniquely its own.15 Despite differences, civilizations should coexist in harmony rather than doggedly seek
to dominate others. “People don’t need to wear the same shoes; they should find what suits their feet. Governments don’t have to adopt the same model of governance; they should find what benefits their people.” There is no one-size-fits-all standard, and civilizations cannot be measured with only a single measuring stick. Cultural differences can never be resolved by coercive means, in the same way that one wouldn’t cut off one’s toes in order to fit into new shoes. Such a view would have catastrophic consequences for all civilizations. It is the foundation of mutual learning among civilizations to recognize and respect the fact that all civilizations are equal. This respect for civilizations includes the respect for diverse national conditions and their uniqueness, for peoples and their ways of thinking, for the unique role of civilizations in history, and for the rationality and continuity of civilizations’ influence now and in the future. More importantly, it includes a deep understanding of each civilization as an indispensable part of world civilization. In particular, we must overcome obstacles to cultural exchanges caused by differences in social systems, ideologies, and development models.
Inclusiveness and mutual learning. Each civilization is the crystallization of human creativity, and each is beautiful in its own way. No civilization is superior to others. Facing the outstanding achievements of different civilizations, we need to uphold the beauty of each civilization and the diversity of civilizations in the world. For cultural differences, French sinologist François Jullien put forward the concepts of écart (gap) and entre (between). He believed that écart can open up spaces for civilizations to understand, appreciate and learn from each other. Chinese civilization has been characterized by harmonious coexistence since ancient times. The Chinese concept of he includes multiple ideas such as peace, tolerance and openness. It embodies the respect for diversity as well as tolerance for differences, and can integrate different things into one unity. Diversity is the prerequisite of development; accordingly, the reconciliation of diversity is the basic condition for evolution from generation to generation.16 “Wise people
will seek common interests while the unwise will focus only on differences.” The pursuit of harmony and common development among different civilizations is the long-standing cultural tradition of the Chinese people.
Innovation and development. People-to-people exchange must build on the excellent traditional culture of a nation, and more importantly, it needs to adapt itself to the changing times and break new ground. The history of world civilizations tells us that every civilization needs to advance with the times and take in the best of its age in order to develop itself.17 Ancient Greek temples have been enlightened by Babylon and ancient Egypt civilizations; the hundred-year Graeco-arabic translation movement in the 8th century merged the cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and India, and laid a solid foundation for the European Renaissance. Based on Korean traditional music and dance, the popular Korean culture is a fusion of Western rap performance and modernized packaging, which has become an important cultural product in South Korea. People-to-people exchange in the new era requires us to learn from other civilizations while tapping our precious historical resources, and inherit our traditional culture while carrying out innovative development. By preserving traditions in the process of modernization while revitalizing them with high technology, innovation of the “going global” strategy is achieved in terms of communication mode.
Challenges Facing People-to-people Exchange in the New Era
The idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind charts the course for a new type of international relations alongside the development of globalization, and represents China’s contribution to a better future for human society. However, the reality of today’s international relations is such that a few countries continue to pursue hegemonism and power politics. They believe that their civilizations are superior to others and place their interest above that of other countries, rather than conduct state
to-state exchanges on the basis of mutual respect, equal consultation, and win-win cooperation. Generally speaking, current China-foreign people-topeople exchange faces the following challenges.
Wariness of China’s development by Us-led West
After WWII, the US launched the Cold War against socialist countries including China to maintain its global hegemony, with the excuse of curbing the expansion of communism. Although China-us relations experienced a détente in the 1970s and 1980s due to joint opposition to Soviet expansionism, the United States has always attempted to divide and Westernize China for ideological reasons. Such attempts are more frequent now with the surge of China’s comprehensive national power. As China becomes the world’s second largest economy, a variety of “China threat” theories have emerged, one of which is the “sharp power” rhetoric. It has made groundless accusations against China’s efforts in maintaining the existing international order, improving its national image, and expanding its international influence, which reflects their guarded attitude towards China’s development and their mixed feelings triggered by China’s rise.
On top of that, China’s legitimate actions of shaping its national image and upgrading its global influence are regarded as infiltration and sabotage. Since 2014, China’s Confucius Institutes in the US have been successively closed. In 2015, Sweden closed the first Confucius Institute in Europe, as it was suspected of spreading ideology and restricting academic freedom. At the same time, the US and other Western countries with their media dominance, have slung mud at China, hurt China’s image, and undermined people-topeople exchanges between China and other Western or even developing countries.
New round of “clash of civilizations” theory on the rise
In the 1990s, American scholar Samuel Huntington predicted that the root cause of international conflicts after the Cold War would no longer be economy-related, and that the clash of civilizations would dominate
international politics.18 The “clash of civilizations” rhetoric has become the theoretical basis of cultural hegemony after the Cold War for the US and other Western countries. For a long time, Western countries have advocated the superiority of their civilization and constantly exported their values, lifestyles, and even ideologies to developing countries, in an attempt to integrate the whole world into their civilization. The “clash of civilizations” rhetoric is characterized by its exaggeration of the impact that cultural differences may have, and holds the view that differences in civilizations are the underlying cause of international conflicts. It finds a new excuse for US hegemonism and is very harmful to the reconstruction of world order. The argument is wrong in adapting an exclusivist and antagonistic Western mindset to today’s China and the whole world.19
In April 2019, Kiron Skinner, Director of Policy Planning at the US Department of State, claimed that, “The Soviet Union and that competition (Cold War), in a way it was a fight within the Western family” while the competition between China and the US is “a fight with a really different civilization and a different ideology,” which marked a new round of “clash of civilizations” theory.20 Skinner’s argument created a huge controversy against the background of the stalemate in China-us trade frictions. It is worth noting that Skinner’s views do not stand alone. Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, also believes that the Us-china conflict is a long-standing “conflict of civilizations.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s team claims that, the US cannot gain the upper hand if it does not fight on the basis of its “values.” 21
The “clash of civilizations” rhetoric, welcomed by some American
politicians, is in fact another expression of the “China threat” theory. The Trump administration has adopted a series of measures to restrict or block China-us people-to-people exchanges, such as tightening visas for Chinese students and scholars doing high-tech or research in “sensitive” areas; blocking visiting scholars in humanities and social sciences; intensifying the supervision and investigation of Confucius Institutes and media outlets with a Chinese background; strengthening technical supervision and investment reviews against Chinese enterprises.22 Out of the fear of China’s rise, the US government and other US groups even resort to the “clash of civilizations” rhetoric, which has restricted the bilateral people-to-people exchanges and presents a bad example for those who follow America’s lead.
Prevalence of anti-globalism sentiments
Globalization can lead to negative consequences such as an imbalanced global economy, a growing income gap, and the spread of global problems while promoting the world’s economic and social development, thereby arousing anti-globalization sentiments. Anti-globalization can easily take the form of genuine xenophobia, intolerance, and arrogance. It is often manipulated by short-sighted politicians and has given rise to populism. In recent years, populism has been behind such political events as Brexit, Trump’s victory in presidential election and his “America First” policies, and the rise of Italy’s populist party.
Populism has shaken Western countries as well as world politics and the international order. With expanding negative effects of globalization and rising populism worldwide, the world is becoming more divided and international cooperation faces more challenges. This has undoubtedly added obstacles to regular people-to-people exchanges, which then fails to strike a chord among peoples with limited communication.23
Diverse demands of target countries
Development is a global issue facing human society. The economic foundation of society determines the superstructure. An economy without a steady growth might cause multiple social problems at the same time. Economic globalization has not eliminated the problem of unbalanced economic development worldwide. For historical and geopolitical reasons, countries vary greatly in their level of development, and hence their expectations and their demands for people-to-people exchange are very much different. For developing countries in general, they want to learn from China’s valuable experience in economic construction and governance, and share the benefits of China’s development. For Western countries people-to-people exchange with China is intended to exert their influence and spread their values, in addition to creating a better understanding of China. Different levels of economic development also result in variations of investment and enthusiasm for people-to-people exchange in relevant countries. Although some countries are highly motivated, their need for people-to-people exchange is not urgent due to constraints on their manpower, material resources, and financial support. In particular, some countries along the Belt and Road are in the midst of critical transformation of their social structure and economic development, belonging to the socalled “arc of instability.” Their priority is to develop the domestic economy and balance political contradictions, without much attention paid to people-to-people exchange, which in turn faces many negative or uncertain constraints.
Thoughts on Deepening People-to-people Exchange
People-to-people exchange is one of the three main pillars of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics for a new era. How to make solid progress in people-to-people exchange to better serve the building of a community with a shared future for mankind is a new crucial issue facing
China’s diplomacy. China should thoroughly review its past experience, and take concrete measures with a view to eliminating interference, overcoming prejudice and enhancing mutual trust, thereby promoting the sustainable development of people-to-people exchange.
First, we should make greater efforts in the building of governance capacity. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. The Chinese nation has made a great leap from standing up to growing rich and becoming strong. On our journey forward, we must enhance the effectiveness of governance, strengthen the integrated management capabilities, improve the system of Chinese socialist rule of law, and give full play to the strength of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. “It takes good iron to make good products.” As long as China runs its own affairs well, those misgivings and prejudice about the path, philosophy, and model of China’s development will eventually be overcome.
Second, we should further tap China’s fine traditional culture. Chinese traditional culture is our most prominent advantage and a rich resource for developing a great socialist culture and fostering a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation. The essence of traditional concepts such as harmony, benevolence, tolerance, perseverance, and tenet is still illuminating to this day. Traditional culture is developed on the basis of an ancient farming civilization, and is inevitably restricted by the conditions of that era, by the state of the economy, the political system, and the degree of knowledge at that time. Therefore, we should winnow out the wheat from the mountains of chaff, and courageously engage in self-renovation and innovation. In the context of fierce cultural competition and cultural diversity, we should take cultural continuity as the foundation, innovation as the priority, and exchange as the means, so as to embolden ourselves to eliminate the outdated content in our traditional culture and strive to transform it through innovation. We must study in depth how Chinese civilization can keep pace with the times, and how to embody both our national interests and humanistic concerns for
the common development of the world. We must promote the Chinese civilization with its long history to embrace the world, and at the same time actively learn from other excellent cultures, by strengthening cultural exchange in multiple areas, seeking for greater depth and more encompassing views, and further enriching the contemporary connotations of Chinese traditional culture.
Third, we should construct a system of discourse for people-topeople exchange with foreign countries. In the process of Chinese culture going global, we should do more research on the history, religion, and politics of foreign countries in order to construct an international discourse system, hence unifying localization and internationalization. The content should be down to earth, highlighting the great achievements China has made since its reform and opening-up while not shunning the difficulties
and challenges facing us. We should present our accomplishments in different development periods while promoting today’s China in an attractive and distinctive approach. As for the communication channels, we need to give full play to China’s domestic media, leverage foreign media’s influence, and strengthen effective cooperation between the two sides, in pursuit of a multi-dimensional effect on publicity. We should vigorously promote internationalization and cultivate versatile talents in the fields of culture, education, news media, legal industry and public relations, to upgrade the comprehensive quality of people engaging in China-foreign people-to-people exchanges.
Fourth, we should attach importance to cultural and creative industries. Chinese civilization is rich in historical and cultural materials, but we still don’t have a series of creative cultural products with international influence. China should further study and formulate policies for the cultural industry that are in line with international practices, integrate central and local resources in traditional culture through multiple channels, and provide all-round support for Chinese culture to go global, including policy, financial and platform support. Cultural products must absorb and draw on the achievements of the international community while maintaining their traditional characteristics, thus unifying national and global dimensions. At the same time, it must be tailored to the actual needs of the target country, so that it can be goaloriented and attractive. We need to vigorously upgrade the technology, quality and brand image of cultural products with multimedia and hightech methods, and strive to enhance their overall competitiveness and influence on the international stage.
Fifth, we should further explore a model for people-to-people exchange that combines official and non-official activities. The core of people-to-people exchange is to strengthen bonds among peoples, which requires omni-dimensional, in-depth, and multi-sectoral communication as well as the support of people from all walks of life. In the past four decades of reform and opening-up, China’s fast-growing economy has
promoted social diversity along with the emergence and flourishing of various non-governmental organizations. Moreover, Chinese citizens are acutely aware of the significance of openness, and the necessity of China’s integration into the world. They are very enthusiastic about carrying out people-to-people exchange.24 Chinese tourists made nearly 150 million overseas trips in 2018. Their role in people-to-people exchange cannot be ignored as the communicators of Chinese culture and the spokespersons for China’s image. More efforts are required to build a new model integrating official and non-official activities, and non-governmental actors should be encouraged to play a bigger role. Compared with official institutions, NGOS have more favorable conditions such as low political sensitivity, flexibility of organizational forms, and sustainability, and hence can better utilize the strength of people at large to conduct in-depth and extensive exchanges. China-japan relations is a good example. Although the bilateral political relations are often deadlocked due to historical issues, frequent non-governmental exchange between the two sides has contributed enduring positive energy to the normalization of diplomatic relations and the friendship between the two peoples. In order to better carry out non-governmental exchange, the government should widely mobilize NGOS at policy and institutional levels, and provide strong financial support as well as appropriate services. Guided by official institutions, non-governmental forces with their diverse expertise should comprehensively utilize all resources in a variety of ways, while thoroughly understanding local conditions and customs of the target country so as to enhance mutual learning on the basis of respect and equality, rather than arrogance. In the process of extensive and in-depth exchange, citizens should enhance self-cultivation, safeguard China’s international image, and promote exchange between regions or cities, thereby eliminating misunderstandings or prejudice toward China from the international community.