In his keynote speech at the opening of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC), Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

In its thousands-year-long history, Asia witnessed the birth and blossom of a variety of cultures: China's Book of Songs, Western Asia's cuneiform, Arabic numerals and India's Taj Mahal, to name but a few. The Chinese civilization in East Asia, the Indian civilization in South Asia, the Umran civilization in Central Asia and the Mesopotamian civilization in Western Asia are illustrious chapters of Asian history.

However, the rising protectionist sentiments in today's world are posing a challenge to these distinctive civilizations. The Clash of Civilizations theory, for instance, argues that cultural identity would be a major source of clashes and more worryingly, the theory seems to be gaining popularity among anti-China forces in the United States. U.S. State Department is reported to be developing strategies to deal with the “clash” with Chinese civilizations.

Against this backdrop, President Xi reiterated civilizational integration. Civilizations may be different, but "no civilization is superior over others," President Xi stressed, adding that "the thought that one's own race and civilization are superior and the inclination to remold or replace other civilizations are just stupid. To act them out will only bring catastrophic consequences."

Equal treatment of different civilizations, which President Xi also emphasized in his speech, may be a solution to the Clash of Civilizations theory. "If countries choose to close their doors and hide behind them, human civilizations would be cut off from each other and lose all vitality," President Xi warned, adding that Asian people hope that all countries will work to promote policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity for a community with a shared future for all mankind.

For this end, China and regional countries have been straining every nerve to promote exchanges among civilizations. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Eurasian Economic Union, for instance, have created more favorable conditions for cultural communications and are regarded by many as initiatives of hope to revitalize ancient Asian and global civilizations.

At the just-concluded Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Beijing defined the BRI as a route that unites different civilizations. Enhanced exchanges are of vital importance to eliminate misunderstandings and foster mutual respect among civilizations – a prerequisite to the civilized coexistence.

Communication and people-to-people exchanges have thrived in the past few years under the BRI-included government policies. In 2018, Chinese people made more than 160 million outbound trips while inbound trips by overseas tourists exceeded 140 million. These travels, as President Xi said, are important forces for promoting "mutual learning among Chinese and foreign civilizations."

Any civilization will have to learn from and absorb the good parts from other civilizations in order to survive and prosper in the ever-changing world. Creativity is the source of vitality of civilizations. In the era of globalization, integration among civilization is an irreversible trend. Protectionist and isolationist sentiments will lead the world nowhere.

China's CDAC demonstrates the country's determination in opening-up and integrating with global civilizations. This is encouraging and inspiring especially in an era that is seeing growing protectionist sentiments.