Overseas Chinese welcome the arrival of China's naval hospital ship Peace Ark at the port of Bridgetown, Barbados, Nov 27, 2015. China's naval hospital ship Peace Ark arrived in Bridgetown for a seven-day medical service and goodwill visit. Photo: Xinhua

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, on Monday met with representatives to the 10th Conference for Friendship of Overseas Chinese Associations at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, Xi expressed a warm welcome to the representatives and extended sincere greetings to overseas Chinese around the world, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, were present at the meeting, according to Xinhua.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the conference on Monday, Shi Taifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, expressed the hope that overseas Chinese will work together to act on the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity, actively promote world peace, global development and win-win cooperation, and advance friendship and exchanges between China and other countries, Xinhua reported. 

Dedicated to the integration of China and the rest of the world to build a global community of shared future, the 10th Conference for Friendship of Overseas Chinese Associations was attended by nearly 500 leading members of overseas Chinese associations from more than 130 countries and regions, according to Xinhua. 

Overseas Chinese include Chinese nationals living overseas and Chinese people who have acquired foreign nationalities, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Monday.

Due to their allegiance to dual cultures and politics, they are natural bond between China and the world and can play a vital role in helping the country promote the construction of a global community of shared future amid a turbulent world, as they are one of the groups who desire friendship between China and the rest of the world the most, Wang explained. 

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese government has attached great importance to giving full play to the role of overseas Chinese, developing friendly relations between China and the countries and regions where overseas Chinese live, and promoting world peace, expert noted.  

Xi has repeatedly referred to overseas Chinese as the witnesses and promoters of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the rest of the world. He hoped that overseas Chinese would become enthusiastic disseminators of Chinese culture, active promoters of exchanges and mutual learning between the culture of the Chinese nation and the cultures of other countries and regions in the world, and non-governmental envoys who would make good contacts between people overseas and the Chinese people. These important expositions are exactly the affirmation and expectations of overseas Chinese in promoting the construction of a global community with shared future, experts stressed. 

The CPC Central Committee in 2021 published a revised set of regulations on united front work, including a new chapter on united front work and overseas Chinese. 

The new chapter stated that one main task of the work regarding overseas Chinese is to guide overseas Chinese, returned overseas Chinese and their families to become devoted to promoting friendly cooperation and exchanges between Chinese and foreign people and to promote the construction of a global community of shared future.            

It is in this new chapter that the CPC directly connects overseas Chinese and the promotion of the construction of a global community of shared future in its documents. This is also a new demonstration of the CPC's emphasis on overseas Chinese-related affairs, according to experts