“One Belt One Road” Roundtable Conference was held in Lanzhou on August 24th, which was jointly held by China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and Lanzhou
University. Nearly one hundred experts and scholars from 21 countries, including
China, Russia, Germany, USA, Japan, and Uzbekistan, gathered to discuss how can the universities fully play their role in the promoting of international cooperation among countries which are included in “ One Belt One Road” strategy.
Du Yubo, the Vice Minister of Chinese Ministry of Education, expressed in his speech that promoting "One Belt One Road" strategy needs to better promote the education along the belt by communicating between countries, especially the exchanges and cooperation in higher education, and to play the role of higher education as the bridge, the think-tank and the activator in the exchanges.
Qi Mingqiu, the Party secretary and Executive Vice President of China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, expressed that the construction of "One Belt One Road" in the new times not only based on the intergovernmental cooperation and mutual trust, but the unofficial exchange and dialogue also play an irreplaceable role. The construction of “One Belt One Road” needs to be based on the principle of “discussion, collaboration, and sharing ”, which not only needs to actively promote economic and trade exchanges between regions, but also to appreciate the implication of cultural heritage and humanistic spirit.
Xian Hui, the Gansu Provincial Committee and Vice Governor, pointed out that Gansu is located in the throat thoroughfare on the Silk Road, and has established the overall objective to build the golden section in "Silk Road Economic Zone". She also expressed the hope for Lanzhou University to further optimize the disciplines set, to broaden academic horizons, to improve the international level, and thus to provide personnel and a more powerful intellectual support for the construction of Gansu golden section in the "Silk Road Economic Zone" .
"In the process of revitalizing the Silk Road Economic Zone, the exchanges and
cooperation in science, culture and technology will play an important leading role", Lanzhou University President Wang Cheng said, "As the key comprehensive university along the Silk Road Economic Belt, Lanzhou University has devoted a lot of energy in researches, which has never interrupted. In the future, Lanzhou University will need to integrate more strength, and conduct research to serve the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt with a more broad vision and pragmatic cooperation. "
On the keynote forum, Chinese and foreign experts and scholars made speeches. Yakunin, the President of Russian Railways AG and the chairman and the founder of the world's Public Forum of “ Civilization Dialogue” , Zhang Liwen, the Dean of Confucius Institute of Renmin University of China, and other five experts and scholars made speeches. They elaborated the historical and practical value of the “One Belt One Road” from different perspectives, and explored specific paths in the pragmatic cooperation among cultures, regions, and universities. They also analyzed how to promote in the relevant countries the Silk Road spirit of "peaceful cooperation, open mind, tolerance, mutual learning and win-win strategy".
The two-day cultural roundtable conference hold three sub forum, concerningcultural interaction, regional cooperation and university connection, after which experts and scholars are going to visit Jiayuguan and Dunhuang.
