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To understand China, the key lies in understanding Chinese modernization, as emphasized by Chinese President Xi Jinping in a congratulatory letter to the Understanding China Conference on Saturday. The opening ceremony of the forum was held in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province.

Today, confronted with a weak global recovery and escalating geopolitical conflicts, humanity has once again come to a crossroads in history. "It is all the more important that countries work together to meet various global challenges, promote common development, and improve the well-being of humanity," Xi said.

"To understand China, the key lies in understanding Chinese modernization. China is advancing the noble cause of building a great country and national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind," Xi said, noting that "China's future is closely linked with the future of the entire humanity."

He said China is pursuing high-quality development through high-standard opening up and China will continue to foster a market-oriented, world-class business environment underpinned by a sound legal framework, and steadily expand institutional opening up with regard to rules, regulations, management and standards.

China is committed to broadening the convergence of interests with other countries, and will continue to provide the world with new growth momentum and opportunities through its own development, Xi said.

"China looks forward to working hand in hand with the rest of the world to realize global modernization that features peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation, and prosperity for all," Xi said.

Understanding Chinese modernization

Experts participating in the conference discussed the reasons behind the success of Chinese modernization and expected that Chinese modernization can offer inspiration to global modernization. Essam Sharaf, former Prime Minister of Egypt, pointed out that Chinese modernization as well as the China-proposed global initiatives emphasize connectivity, trust, peace, development and prosperity. "When these initiatives are embraced by those who advocate for peace and development, they create a path toward a world where everyone shares a common prosperous future and enjoys a new world order characterized by dialogue-based international relations, rule-based global governance, and true multilateralism," he said.

"Over the past decades, China has lifted nearly 800 million people out of poverty and has become the world's second-largest economy. China has become the leader in innovation, in science and technology, in green development. China has become the leader of globalization," Mushahid Hussain Syed, head of Pakistan's Friends of the Silk Road Club and chairman of the Pakistan-China Institute told the Global Times.

It was the resilience of the Chinese leadership and the Chinese people, their ability to make course corrections during the journey of reform and opening-up, the continuity of policy, and finally a peaceful foreign policy that have led to China's remarkable achievements in the reform and opening-up, he noted.

Addressing 'understanding deficit'

The conference, with the participation of 70 international guests from more than 30 countries and regions, was co-hosted by the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs and the Guangdong provincial government.

The three-day event kicked off under the theme of "China's New Endeavors amid Unprecedented Global Changes -- Expanding the Convergence of Interests and Building A Community of Shared Future." This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Understanding China Conference, which has developed into a major platform for the world to gain insight into China's development strategies.

Zheng Bijian, founding chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, noted in his speech that "It has been 10 years since the founding of the Understanding China Conference. In the past 10 years, we have witnessed the rapid development of China and experienced the changes in the world."

Many experts have reached the consensus that there is an "understanding deficit" between different countries and different civilizations, which is not conducive to mutual trust. If through the decade-long efforts, the world can gain a better understanding of China and the Communist Party of China and if China can better understand the world and the unprecedented global changes, then the conference has achieved its goals, Zheng stressed.

"Through face-to-face communication, more wisdom can be shared. Through heart-to-heart communication, a broader consensus can be gathered. More friends are welcome to actively participate in understanding China and convey the true China to the world, and let the world understand China better," said Sun Weidong, vice minister of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, during his speech at the opening ceremony.