Experts call for deeper civilizational dialogue at forum in Macao SAR

Chinese experts on Tuesday called for deeper dialogue, mutual learning and equality among civilizations, stressing that exchanges across cultures are essential for human progress and for addressing today's global challenges.

The remarks were made at the opening of the 2025 International Forum on Mutual Learning among Civilizations, held in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR government with support from the Chinese Academy of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The two-day forum has brought together more than 50 representatives from government departments, international organizations and academic institutions from nearly 10 countries, aiming to explore new pathways for civilizational inclusiveness, cultural innovation and cooperative development.

Qian Chengdan, a Boya chair professor at Peking University, said diversity is the most fundamental and enduring feature of human civilization, arguing that without diversity, mutual learning would lose its meaning.

He noted that civilizations have developed through constant contact, comparison and adaptation. From early river-valley civilizations to the formation of regional empires and broader civilizational circles, exchanges have been the driving force behind both the birth and growth of civilizations, he said.

Qian warned against notions of civilizational superiority, saying that Western-centric narratives that emerged during the era of colonial expansion distorted relations among civilizations and undermined equality.

In his view, the global modernization process of the 20th century marked not a "clash of civilizations," but a "return of civilizations," as non-Western societies regained confidence and long-distorted unequal relations among civilizations were reversed. This return remains vital for addressing issues such as the relationship between humanity and nature, morality and interests, individualism and collectivism, and freedom and social order, he added.

Li Guoqiang, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and vice president of the Chinese Academy of History, traced civilizational exchanges through concrete historical examples, including the influence of China's imperial examination system, or keju in Chinese, on civil service reforms in Britain and other countries. He described the system as a model of cross-civilizational learning.

Li also highlighted the long history of two-way exchanges between China and the wider world, from ancient trade and technological diffusion to Macao's role as a key gateway for East-West cultural interaction since the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The city's multicultural heritage, he said, demonstrates how different civilizations can coexist, integrate and thrive through openness and inclusiveness.

Noting that no single nation's wisdom can sustain human progress on its own, Li said only through mutual learning among civilizations can humanity achieve lasting development and shared prosperity.

(Cover: People attend a cultural event to commemorate the 620th anniversary of Chinese admiral Zheng He's first westward journey at the Sam Poo Kong Temple in Semarang, Central Java Province, Indonesia, on July 27, 2025. /VCG)