Beyond the 'clash of civilizations': Understanding CPC's civilizational commitment through the 'two integrations'

Editor's note: Zheng Haizhen, a special commentator for CGTN, is an assistant researcher at the Department for Global Governance and International Organization Studies, China Institute of International Studies. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

In recent years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has advanced the creative transformation and innovative development of the fine traditional Chinese culture, proposed the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), and championed exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Yet some Western media outlets and scholars interpret these efforts as China's attempt to promote a "civilizational alternative" to the Western model of liberal democracy.

Such interpretations may appear to be about civilization, but in reality, they recycle the outdated notions of "civilizational superiority" and the "clash of civilizations." They claim to observe China objectively, yet are shaped by a Western-centric worldview and a zero-sum mindset.

For a long time, some Western narratives have tended to regard the development of one civilization as a challenge to another, and to misinterpret cultural exchanges and mutual learning as cultural expansion. This mindset not only fails to explain China's development, but is also increasingly out of step with today's reality of civilizational diversity.

Civilizations are not rivals in an arena, nor should they be ranked as superior or inferior. Modernization is not a multiple-choice question with only one correct answer.

The 20th CPC National Congress in 2022 stressed the importance of integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and with its fine traditional culture. The "two integrations" reveal the key to the Party's continued theoretical and cultural innovation, and explain why Chinese modernization possesses distinctive Chinese characteristics.

The "two integrations" represent a profound summary of the CPC's century-long historical experience, a fundamental understanding of the laws governing the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the Party's greatest source of success.

Promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture is not about constructing a civilizational identity in opposition to the West. Instead, it reflects the cultural consciousness of an ancient civilization advancing toward modernization by strengthening its cultural subjectivity and carrying forward its civilizational heritage.

China remains committed to socialism with Chinese characteristics. Grounded in its own national conditions while drawing on the governance wisdom and value system nurtured by Chinese civilization over thousands of years, it has explored a modernization path suited to its own realities. This path is not directed against the West, nor is it intended to export a "China model."

China has consistently respected every country's right to choose its own development path independently. It does not interfere in other countries' internal affairs, nor does it impose its own values or development experience on others.

This is not only a fundamental principle of China's foreign policy, but also reflects the traditional Chinese philosophy of harmony without uniformity and the vision that "all civilizations flourish together through mutual appreciation."

The GCI is a vivid embodiment of this vision of civilization. In response to profound global changes and shared challenges, China advocates respect for the diversity of civilizations, the promotion of the common values of humanity, the preservation and innovation of civilizations, and stronger international people-to-people and cultural exchanges. It opposes drawing ideological lines and rejects the politicization or instrumentalization of civilizational differences.

One of the reasons the Chinese civilization has endured and flourished for thousands of years is its openness and inclusiveness. Throughout its history, it has drawn inspiration from the achievements of other civilizations while maintaining its own cultural subjectivity.

Today, China pursues the innovative development of Chinese civilization with the same commitment to openness rather than isolation, and to exchange rather than exclusion. From expanding people-to-people exchanges under the Belt and Road cooperation framework to strengthening cooperation in cultural heritage preservation, education, tourism, and youth exchanges, China has consistently worked to promote mutual respect and common development among different civilizations.

Today, as humanity confronts shared challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence governance, and public health, the world needs dialogue among civilizations more than ever before. What deserves to be championed is not "civilizational replacement" but mutual learning among civilizations, not zero-sum competition, but win-win cooperation.

China's development is not intended to change others, but to improve itself. What China advocates is not a clash of civilizations, but a world in which different civilizations appreciate one another’s strengths and flourish together.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)