On November 3rd, the Cinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and Yunnan People’s Government held the 10th China-South Asia International Cultural Forum--Video Conference on Health Silk Road. Those gave speeches on the opening ceremony were Lin Songtian, chairman of the Cinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Cui Maohu, vice governor of Yunnan province, Sun Qun, vice mayor and member of the standing committee of the Kunming municipal party committee, and Dr. Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to China. Li Xikui, vice chairman of the Cinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, hosted the video conference and made the summary.
Yu Hongjun, invited expert of China forum and former vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Liu Baoyan, chairman of World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies and chairman of China Association of Acupuncture-Moxibustion, delivered key-note speeches. Nearly 30 attendees exchanged their ideas and discussed friendly cooperation centered about “building a global community of health for all through solidarity and cooperation”. They were experts, scholars, representatives of enterprises and officials of medication and health fields from China, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. More than a hundred people from universities and relating institutes in China and countries in South Asia watched the conference.
Lin Songtian said that building a healthy and beautiful Asia was a common wish for people in China and countries in south Asia. China would like to work with all friends from south Asia to contribute more to local anti-pandemic cooperation, the construction of sanitary governance system, high-quality healthy Silk Road and a sanitary and healthy community for all human. So, we advocated that: first, we insisted that people should be the center of our work and life was the most important thing; second, we stick to mutual-learning, innovation and the right direction and third, we would work together.
Cui Maohu, vice governor of Yunnan, said that Yunnan was an important province in the construction of the economic corridor of China, Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. The province was a radiating center facing south Asia and southeast Asia and an integrated part to serve the “belt and road” initiative. In recent years, Yunnan had more frequent friendly exchanges with countries in south Asia. Friendly cities had been making full use of their resources and advantages, carrying out beneficial communication and cooperation with rich content and various forms in economy, trade, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges. Now facing the pandemic, China would work with countries in south Asia to follow the idea of sanitary and health community for human; enhance friendship; improve medical and sanitary industries, healthy industry, medical education and other fields.
Cui Maohu also gave five suggestions regarding the friendly communication between Yunnan and countries in south Asia, including enhancing cooperation mechanism, enhancing economic and trade cooperation, improving sanitary cooperation, enhancing the training of stuff members and promoting people-to-people communication.
Dr. Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to China, gave high comment to the result of China’s fighting against the pandemic and aid for the international community to fight against the pandemic. He said that when the international community lacked resource to deal with the Covid-19, Chinese government and enterprise donated plenty of medical resource which offered important help for the Sri Lanka to cope with the pandemic. This act showed the spirits of solidarity and cooperation of Chinese people. He expected that after the pandemic, there would be more cooperation in fields including education, tourism and medication, so as to push forward China-Sri Lanka relationship.
Participating in the communication were experts and representatives form more than 20 institutions, including Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Yan’an Hospital of Kunming City, Kunming Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Guangdong Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine, parliament of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Palestine, the Ittehad of Pakistan, the parliament of Colombo of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh-China People's Friendship Association, Bangladesh Medical Service co., ltd, Tribhuvan University of Nepal, Nepal Herbal Medicine Production and Processing Company and other institutes. They discussed experience, suggestion and expectation, then reach consensus in terms of local traditional medicine, health culture, public sanitary governance as well as cooperation to fight against the pandemic, people-to-people exchange and information-sharing of the international society. The conference witnessed the contract-signing of the Yihui Enterprises Management (Yunnan) co.,ltd and a medical company in Bangladesh.
The China-South Asia International Cultural Forum was established in 2008. it’s now an important platform for China and countries in South Asia to launch multilateral exchange, enhance friendship and promote cooperation. It’s the first time to set up the “healthy Silk Road” section which was accepted well among institutes from home and abroad.