The Original Contributions of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Important Discourses on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations

The millennia-long history of human society is a history of exchanges, mutual learning, tolerance, and coexistence among different civilizations. Whether in the unconscious interactions of ancient “natural history” or in the proactive integration of modern “world history,” exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations have, as a persistent permeating force, shaped the global landscape. In the current era of economic globalization, the exchanges and collisions of diverse civilizations have become more convenient and profound, and should have formed a “garden of civilizations” blooming with a hundred flowers. However, since modern times, “world history” has not been a homogeneous space; Western civilization has occupied a strong and dominant position within it, and the global order has been an unequal order characterized by Western-centrism and hegemonic dominance. How civilizations can engage in exchanges and mutual learning remains a perplexing question. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. On the basis of a profound grasp of the laws governing the development of human civilization and a deep insight into the historic changes in the relationship between China and the world, he has delivered a series of important discourses, creatively answering core questions concerning the historical orientation, value foundation, basic principles, practical plans, and development goals of current exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Grasping the original contributions of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations is of great significance for responding to the “changes unseen in a century,” realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and enriching and developing new forms of human civilization.

I. The Original Proposal of “Changes Unseen in a Century,” Profoundly Grasping the Historical Orientation of Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations

At present, “changes of the world, of the times, and of history are unfolding in ways like never before.” The underlying logic of civilizational interaction has undergone profound changes: the rapid development of the industrial revolution and new technological revolutions is driving the structural reorganization of civilizational forms; the evolution of international forces and the global landscape is altering the historical balance of civilizational power; and the end of the myth of “universal values” and “universal civilization” is promoting a value reshaping of civilizational ideals. Standing at a new historical juncture, General Secretary Xi Jinping creatively put forward the major thesis of “changes unseen in a century,” clarifying the historical orientation of civilizational development. To understand today’s civilizational exchanges, the first step is to comprehend this transformation.

First, the core of the “changes unseen in a century” is the “rise of the East and the decline of the West,” where the hegemonic dominance of Western civilization in civilizational exchanges is gradually

Second, “changes unseen in a century” are filled with the dialectic of crisis and opportunity, and each civilization must turn crisis into opportunity through exchange. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “The changes in today’s world are unseen in a century; transformation will give rise to new opportunities, but the process of transformation is often fraught with risks and challenges.” From the perspective of opportunities for civilizational exchange, on the one hand, the current trends of economic globalization, world multipolarization, cultural diversification, and social informatization are unstoppable, and exchanges, mutual learning, cooperation, and win-win outcomes among civilizations represent the general trend. On the other hand, a new round of scientific and technological revolution in artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, quantum information, and the like is advancing rapidly, giving rise to new forms, new drivers, and new models of civilizational development, and providing new conditions and conveniences for civilizational exchange. However, it must be noted that, with the accelerated evolution of “changes unseen in a century,” “the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation,” prominently manifested in the fact that “the deficits in peace, development, security, and governance are worsening, and human society faces unprecedented challenges.” Regional conflicts and local wars continue unabated, geopolitical risks have sharply intensified, and the peace deficit has deepened. The total volume of global development is insufficient, development momentum is lacking, and distribution is imbalanced; anti-globalization forces are surging rapidly, tariff wars and trade wars are escalating, and the development deficit has deepened. While new traditional security risks keep emerging, non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity, and refugee crises are also spreading continuously, and the security deficit has deepened. Global hot-button issues arise one after another, and the global governance system and multilateral mechanisms are under assault, with the governance deficit widening. The challenges facing humanity are increasingly global and long-term in nature, and no single civilization can stand aloof. Therefore, the fundamental problem domain of civilizational exchange under “changes unseen in a century” is how to achieve common development through mutual learning and cooperation.

Third, under “changes unseen in a century,” safeguarding the diversity of human civilizations has become a new historical trend. In the face of Western civilization’s attempt to use its dominant position to forge a universal “global civilization,” to “create a world after its own image,” and to unify the world with a “superior” Western civilization, resulting in frequent occurrences of “color revolutions,” “peaceful evolution,” and even “civilizational wars,” the peoples of the world are increasingly aware that only by respecting and protecting the existence and development of different civilizations can lasting peace and common prosperity be achieved. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “Differences in the histories, cultures, and social systems of various countries have existed since ancient times and are an inherent attribute of human civilization. Without diversity, there would be no human civilization. Diversity is an objective reality that will persist for a long time.” Civilizational diversity is a basic feature of human society and an important driving force for human progress. In recent years, China has actively advocated the Global Civilization Initiative,

First, in response to the trap of Western “universal values,” “the common values of all mankind” clarifies the distinction between value content and the forms of value realization, thereby establishing value norms for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Western “universal values” forcibly bind value content such as freedom, democracy, and human rights to specific forms of realization under the capitalist system—such as universal suffrage, multi-party rotation in power, and federalism—and, under the cover of discursive hegemony, elevate these historically conditioned forms of value realization into universal principles. They argue that only by following the Western capitalist path of civilizational development can values like freedom, democracy, and human rights be realized, thereby equating the capital-dominated mode of value realization with the ultimate form of civilizational development and confusing value content with the mode of value realization. In reality, however, the path of civilizational development is a “tool” serving the realization of value content, not an “end” in itself; there is no strict correspondence between value content and the forms of value realization. In this regard, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes: “For a country to achieve modernization, it must not only follow the general laws of modernization but also base itself on its own national conditions and have its own characteristics. The people of each country have the most say in determining which form of modernization best suits them.” The common values of all mankind separate value content from the forms of value realization, and, on the basis of recognizing humanity’s shared pursuit of a better life, respect the autonomy of different civilizations in exploring their own practical paths. In other words, advocating the common values of all mankind does not mean forcibly exporting social systems, development paths, or democratic models, nor does it impose uniform forms of value realization. In this sense, the common values of all mankind break the hegemonic logic of the West, which binds forms of realization such as multi-party systems and privatization to value content. While dismantling the confrontational and exclusionary nature of Western “universal values,” they provide value norms for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

Second, focusing on the “changes unseen in a century in the world,” “the common values of all mankind” delineate value elements at the global and national levels, providing value standards for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. At present, peaceful development worldwide faces multiple obstacles, international fairness and justice are under severe assault, and democracy and freedom have been reduced to the prerogatives of a few countries, seriously hindering exchanges, mutual learning, tolerance, and coexistence among human civilizations. Against this backdrop, General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Peace and development are our common cause; fairness and justice are our common ideal; democracy and freedom are our common pursuit.” This statement embodies the shared aspirations of people across the world. For the prospects of the world, “peace and development remain the theme of our times” and are the primary value norms for exchanges and mutual learning among diverse civilizations. As the “changes unseen in a century” accelerate, “unilateralism and protectionism have risen markedly, and local conflicts and turbulence occur frequently.” Only by adhering to the value consensus of peace and development can a stable and orderly external environment be created for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. For the development of individual countries, fairness and justice are inevitable requirements of global governance and core value norms for exchanges and mutual learning among diverse civilizations. Faced with problems in the global governance system, such as insufficient representation and imbalanced rules, only by embedding fairness and justice in every link and aspect of the international order can exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations be truly built on a just and reasonable foundation.

Third, with an eye to the common pursuits of people across the world, “the common values of all mankind” balance the dual attributes of general values and particular values, thereby forging a value consensus for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Modernization, as a general trend, has become a current that every civilization must engage with, but the historical foundations, social realities, and development paths of different civilizations cannot be replicated; each must forge a distinctive development path based on its own endowments. Therefore, while following the general historical trend of modernization, each civilization must also uphold diverse value demands through exchanges and mutual learning. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes: “History tells us that only by embracing the world can we embrace tomorrow; only by advancing hand in hand can we go far and steadily.” The common values of all mankind, precisely by focusing on the common pursuits of people across the world and balancing the dual attributes of general and particular values in civilizational development, provide a value consensus for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. At the level of general values, today, transportation technology and digital communication technology have already made “universal interaction” a reality, yet conflicts and contradictions persist among civilizations due to mutual incomprehension and difficulty in reaching consensus; the barriers between civilizations have not truly been eliminated with the realization of material conditions. Hence, embracing universality within particularity, thereby advancing humanity toward a “genuine community,” is particularly necessary. At the level of particular values, different civilizations, due to their distinct value pursuits, inevitably require equal consultation and exchange to forge a more holistic and representative set of shared demands and value consensus. The common values of all mankind draw on the particular value forms that different civilizations have developed under specific social and historical conditions, thereby providing a mechanism for dialogue and exchange that respects civilizational diversity and pursues “harmony in diversity.” It is precisely because the common values of all mankind possess a value core that unifies generality and particularity that they open up a new realm for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and for moving toward a bright future, in the practice of “each appreciating its own beauty, and sharing beauty with others.” [n]

III. The Original Proposal of the “Global Civilization Initiative,” Profoundly Answering the Basic Principles of Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations

Based on a profound insight into the general trends of world civilizational development and building on the summary of the common values of all mankind, General Secretary Xi Jinping has systematically answered the epochal questions of how diverse civilizations can coexist harmoniously and where human civilization is headed, giving rise to the groundbreaking “Global Civilization Initiative.” The Global Civilization Initiative takes “equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness” as the basic principles for handling civilizational exchanges, advocating “surpassing civilizational superiority with diverse coexistence, surpassing civilizational conflict with harmonious coexistence, surpassing civilizational estrangement with integration and sharing, and surpassing civilizational rigidity with shared prosperity and progress,” thereby establishing a scientific practical guide for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

First, it is grounded in the general stipulation of respecting the diversity of human civilizations. The Global Civilization Initiative establishes “civilizational equality” as the practical premise for civilizational exchanges, breaking the myth of “civilizational superiority.” The development of human civilization has always confirmed a fundamental proposition: civilizational diversity is a basic feature of human society and a driving force for progress. The Global Civilization Initiative, based on this historical materialist understanding, establishes “civilizational equality” as the foundational principle for cross-civilizational exchange. Looking back at human history, from the “hierarchy of civilizations” in the colonial era to the “end of history” thesis after the Cold War, Western-centrism has long monopolized the discourse on civilization, all revealing a hegemonic psychology of “civilizational superiority.” The Global Civilization Initiative fundamentally denies any hierarchy among civilizations. As General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, “Human civilizations are neither superior nor inferior to one another; they become rich and colorful through equal exchange, just as ‘the interplay of five colors brings out brilliance, and the harmony of eight tones produces peace and balance.’” [n] From the origins of human civilization, archaeological research shows that during the Bronze Age, civilizations in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins developed almost simultaneously, each creating unique cultural achievements. This fact strongly supports the historical basis of “civilizational equality.” In the practical dimension of civilizational exchange, the successful convening of the “China-Arab States Cooperation Forum” and the “Liangzhu Forum” demonstrates that when different civilizational subjects engage in exchange on a completely equal footing, it can generate a “butterfly effect” beneficial to the development of all human civilizations. The principle of “civilizational equality” is reshaping the ethical foundation of current civilizational exchange, requiring the thorough abandonment of the “civilizational superiority” mentality in international interactions and the establishment of genuinely equal dialogue mechanisms.

Second, it is deeply rooted in the historical accumulation that highlights the value of human civilization. The Global Civilization Initiative uses “mutual learning among civilizations” to specify the practical orientation of civilizational exchange, breaking free from the curse of the “clash of civilizations.” The evolutionary history of human civilization is essentially a magnificent epic of different civilizations enlightening, blending, and coexisting with one another. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes that “the包容共存、交流互鉴 of different civilizations plays an irreplaceable role in advancing the modernization process of human society and enriching the garden of world civilizations.”[n] The Global Civilization Initiative is deeply embedded in this rich historical accumulation, establishing “mutual learning among civilizations” as the core mechanism of cross-civilizational interaction, thereby injecting enduring practical wisdom into the development of human civilization. Clearly, this concept transcends the mere level of civilizational exchange and communication, directly pointing to the essential laws of civilizational development—only through mutual learning can civilizations maintain lasting vitality. From a historical perspective, “precisely because the histories, systems, and cultures of different countries are not identical, there is a need for exchange and mutual learning, for drawing on each other’s strengths to make up for weaknesses, and for common progress.”[n] “Mutual learning among civilizations” is a key driving force of human progress. The eastward transmission and localization of Buddhism along the Silk Road not only enriched China’s philosophical system but also created a unique East Asian Buddhist civilizational form; after the Age of Exploration, the introduction of China’s Four Great Inventions into Europe directly spurred the rise of the Renaissance. “History tells us that only through exchange and mutual learning can a civilization be full of vitality.”[n] In contemporary practice, “mutual learning among civilizations” has demonstrated new achievements for the times. Taking the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative as an example, alliances such as the Silk Road International Theatre, Art Festival, Library, Museum, News Media, and Tourism Cities have been successively established, along with platforms like the Belt and Road Economic Information Network, the Publishing Cooperation Body of the Belt and Road Countries, and the International Think Tank Cooperation Committee. The Belt and Road has become a broad road for civilizational exchange and mutual learning. Thus, promoting exchange and mutual learning among different civilizations is an important pathway to building a colorful world and enhancing the well-being of humanity.

Third, it is committed to exploring the practical carriers of interaction among human civilizations. The Global Civilization Initiative, taking the Global Governance Initiative as its starting point, highlights the practical impetus of global cooperation and transcends the limitations of hegemonic logic. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, and global governance has reached a new crossroads.”[n] Whether to continue implementing the “law of the jungle” centered on hegemonism, or to jointly build a global governance system of cooperation and mutual benefit—this is a major choice facing all of humanity. Throughout history, hegemonism and power politics have often brought war, conflict, and destruction, inflicting heavy disasters on world civilization. In contrast, the Global Civilization Initiative “advocates respecting the diversity of world civilizations, adhering to equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness among civilizations, and transcending civilizational estrangement through civilizational exchange and civilizational conflict through civilizational mutual learning,”[n] providing a new concept for the interaction of human civilizations. However, exchange and mutual learning among civilizations cannot remain merely at the level of beautiful concepts or visions; they must seek a solid practical foundation. The Global Governance Initiative upholds sovereign equality, abides by international rule of law, practices multilateralism, advocates a people-centered approach, and emphasizes action orientation, providing a feasible practical path for global civilizational exchange and mutual learning. It emphasizes the joint participation, joint decision-making, and joint benefit of different countries in global affairs, building a bridge for equal dialogue among civilizations on the international stage, promoting the transcendence of estrangement and the elimination of misunderstandings among different civilizations, jointly safeguarding the diversity of human civilization, and providing strong practical impetus and path support for creating a new situation of people-to-people and cultural exchanges, cultural integration, and people-to-people connectivity among countries worldwide.

IV. Originally Proposing “a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind,” Profoundly Revealing the Practical Plan for Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations

Amid the “changes unseen in a century in the world,” and facing the world’s question and the era’s question of “where is human civilization headed,” General Secretary Xi Jinping, “focusing on the fundamental interests and bright future of the people of all countries,”[n] creatively proposed the Chinese solution of “a community with a shared future for mankind.” “A community with a shared future for mankind” is not only a concept for addressing current global challenges and solving the difficulties of human civilizational exchange but also a practical plan, committed to promoting the building of a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, and clean and beautiful. From the perspective of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, a community with a shared future for mankind advocates practicing “true multilateralism,” promoting the building of a new type of international relations, and deeply implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, among other contents, providing a practical plan for how to effectively promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations under the new circumstances.

First, a community with a shared future for mankind advocates practicing “true multilateralism,” constructing a new mechanism for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations must respect the diversity and differences of civilizations and practice true multilateralism. However, along with the deep adjustment of the current world power structure, the in-depth development of world multipolarity, and the intensification of great-power games, Western countries led by the United States, in order to maintain their own hegemony, implement “pseudo-multilateralism” such as “small-circle multilateralism,” “my-country-first multilateralism,” and “selective multilateralism,” turning civilizational exchange into a one-way export of civilization. This distorted mechanism of civilizational dialogue alienates civilizational exchange into a means of capital expansion, and through exclusive mechanisms, dominates the underlying logic of civilizational exchange. It not only creates a “center-periphery” hierarchical structure of civilizations but also leads civilizational dialogue into a vicious cycle of value export and identity struggle. To this end, General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “What the people of all countries yearn for is not a ‘new Cold War’ or ‘small circles,’ but a world of lasting peace and universal security,”[n] and we must “adhere to true multilateralism.”[n] True multilateralism advocates extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, actively promotes the development of world multipolarity, and advocates building bilateral communities with a shared future, regional communities with a shared future, and domain-specific communities with a shared future, achieving a comprehensive transcendence of one-dimensional “pseudo-multilateralism” and providing a new mechanism for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Through concrete cooperative practices, it transforms exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations into a layered and progressive practical system, promoting the evolution from regional civilizational exchange and mutual learning to global civilizational exchange and mutual learning, effectively breaking the limitations of civilizational exchange under the domination of unilateralism and geopolitical control, and providing a new mechanism for achieving exchange, mutual learning, inclusiveness, and coexistence among different civilizations.

Second, a community with a shared future for mankind advocates the building of a new type of international relations, reshaping a new order for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. The development of any thing must follow a certain order; if order is lost or the existing order becomes ineffective, chaos ensues, making it difficult to respond to various crises and challenges. At the present stage, the order of interaction and exchange among world civilizations is primarily constructed on the basis of capital, serving Western countries in their efforts to extract surplus value to the greatest extent worldwide and to carry out cultural exports, following the law of the jungle of the strong preying on the weak, zero-sum competition, and winner-takes-all. However, when responding to global challenges such as the development gap, the peace deficit, and the clash of civilizations, the Western-dominated order of civilizational interaction is increasingly in decline, urgently requiring the construction of a new order of civilizational interaction. A community with a shared future for mankind opposes the hegemonic logic of the strong preying on the weak and the Cold War mentality of zero-sum games, advocates the practice of a new security concept featuring common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, and strives to build a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation, thereby reshaping a new order for exchanges among civilizations. In this new order, mutual respect is the prerequisite for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, emphasizing that in international affairs, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be observed, the status of all countries in the world must be equal, and the territorial sovereignty and independently chosen development paths of each country must be respected, achieving extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. Fairness and justice are the yardstick for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, emphasizing the promotion of democratization of international relations, requiring that for all international affairs, one’s own stance and policies be determined according to the rights and wrongs of the matter itself, and that all forms of hegemonism, bullying, and high-handed practices be opposed and resisted through concrete actions. Win-win cooperation is the value orientation of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, requiring countries to discard narrow-mindedness and prejudice in civilizational interactions, actively promote multipolarity, and strive to achieve win-win, all-win, and shared-win outcomes by strengthening exchanges and cooperation between countries and regions, sharing the fruits of human civilizational development, and jointly advancing the progress of human civilization.

Third, a community with a shared future for mankind promotes the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, building a new platform for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations are not purely abstract theoretical speculation but concrete actions that require the use of certain carriers or platforms for implementation and advancement. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in 2013, China has consistently upheld the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefit, adhered to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and signed over 200 cooperation documents on Belt and Road construction with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations. The fields and scope of exchanges and cooperation have continuously expanded, and the depth has continuously deepened, providing a good platform for effectively promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations in countries along the route. First, it builds a platform for mutual economic development. Economic development is the driving force supporting the progress of civilization. Belt and Road construction adheres to infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, and financial integration, actively promotes infrastructure construction in low-income countries along the route, strives to build a balanced, equal, and sustainable trade system, explores various forms of financial cooperation models, and effectively promotes the economic construction of countries along the route. A World Bank report shows that the Belt and Road Initiative has increased trade among participants by 4.1%, attracted foreign investment by 5%, and increased the GDP of low-income countries by 3.4%. This provides strong impetus for countries along the Belt and Road to promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Second, it builds a platform for people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “People are the best carriers of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Deepening people-to-people and cultural exchanges and mutual learning is an important way to eliminate estrangement and misunderstanding and promote mutual understanding and affinity among people.” China continuously strengthens people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, actively carries out various forms of people-to-people and cultural exchange activities such as cultural tourism cooperation, educational exchanges, media and think tank cooperation, and non-governmental exchanges, opening up a new situation of diverse interaction and flourishing people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Third, it builds a platform for civilizational dialogue and exchange. To more effectively promote mutual learning among different civilizations and cultural integration and innovation, China has successively held a series of international civilizational dialogue activities such as dialogue conferences, cultural festivals, cultural years, expositions, and exhibitions, effectively promoting dialogue and exchange among world civilizations. In addition, China actively promotes international cooperation in the field of cultural heritage, continuously contributing Chinese strength to safeguarding the cultural treasures of all humanity.

V. Originally Proposing a “New Form of Human Civilization,” Profoundly Clarifying the Development Goals of Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations

Western civilization is rooted in private ownership, and its operation always follows the inherent logic of “capital supremacy.” The civilizational interaction dominated by this logic has not only failed to push human society toward the ideal prospect of coexistence among civilizations but has instead hindered the development and progress of human civilization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The best way to inherit history is to create new history, and the greatest respect for human civilization is to create a new form of human civilization.” The new form of human civilization is a socialist civilizational form deeply rooted in the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, created by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. From the internal nature of civilization, it possesses multiple characteristics such as material civilization, political civilization, and cultural-ethical progress; from the external manifestation of civilization, it is committed to achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, and the ideal realm of “beauty in diversity, harmony and common prosperity under heaven,”[5]5 “Beauty in diversity, harmony and common prosperity under heaven” (美美与共、天下大同) is a classical Chinese ideal of universal harmony, often invoked in contemporary Chinese discourse to advocate for peaceful coexistence and mutual appreciation among different civilizations. manifesting the CPC’s breadth of vision and sense of responsibility in seeking progress for humanity and harmony for the world.

First, regarding China’s own development, the new form of human civilization is a new type of modern civilization that develops itself and benefits the world, emphasizing that the development goal of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations is to achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations are an important driving force for promoting the progress of human civilization and world peace and development.” Western capitalist civilization is a capital-centered modern civilization. The nature of capital in pursuing surplus value, self-expansion, and self-proliferation causes Western capitalist countries, in seeking their own development, to continuously compete with other countries, plunder resources, and seize markets, pursuing unilateralism and protectionism, engaging in hegemonism and power politics, and exchanging the development of other countries for their own developmental advantages, thereby creating contradictions and conflicts among different civilizations. The new form of human civilization, with its development logic of “common prosperity” transcending “polarization” and “win-win cooperation” transcending “zero-sum games,” presents a development paradigm and interaction paradigm different from capitalist civilization. It not only does not presuppose sacrificing the development of other countries but instead creates conditions for their development. Specifically, the new form of human civilization insists on the organic unity of the particularity of the Chinese nation and the universality of human civilization, emphasizing that one must both acknowledge and respect one’s own country’s and nation’s civilizational achievements and respect the civilizational achievements of other countries and nations; it both actively strives for a peaceful international environment to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and promotes world peace through its own development, allowing the fruits of development to benefit the people of all countries more and more fairly. The new form of human civilization makes exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations a driving force for the progress of human civilization and a bond for promoting world peace and development, demonstrating to the world that in the process of civilizational interaction, countries can fully achieve their own development through benign interaction and mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, thereby creating more opportunities for the development of all countries in the world.

Second, with regard to the progress of world civilization, the new form of human civilization is a new type of modern civilization that values the beauty of each civilization and the beauty of others, emphasizing that the developmental goal of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations is to achieve harmony and coexistence. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “The course of human societal development is tortuous and uneven, and the journey of each country in exploring the path to modernization is fraught with hardship.” [6]6 Xi Jinping, “Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects – Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,” October 16, 2022. Realizing modernization is the common pursuit of the people of all countries, and the form in which a civilization achieves its own development has become a key question that every civilization must answer. Western capitalist civilization, with its capital-centered logic of identity, has to a certain extent promoted cross-regional connections among human civilizations and spurred an unprecedented flourishing of inter-civilizational exchange. Yet it has also molded the capitalist model into the sole standard for world modernization, delimiting the paths by which all countries can reach modernization, thereby causing a crisis of homogenization in civilizational development and erasing the diversity that civilizational development ought to possess. In fact, “the diversity of human civilizations is a basic feature of the world and also a source of human progress.” The new form of human civilization fully respects the distinct histories, national conditions, ethnic characteristics, and traditional customs of different civilizations. It discards the narrow-minded Western capitalist notion of self-aggrandizement and disparagement of others, advocating that each country, proceeding from its own actual conditions and on the basis of drawing on the outstanding achievements of human civilizations, explore a path of modernization development that suits its own reality, meets the needs of its people, and aligns with its civilizational traditions. The new form of human civilization upholds the principle of “valuing the beauty of each civilization and the beauty of others,” promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Its goal is to create a new situation of people-to-people and cultural exchanges, cultural integration, and mutual understanding among the peoples of all countries, thereby bringing about a splendid civilizational vista of harmony and coexistence.

Third, with regard to the future of humanity, the new form of human civilization is a new type of modern civilization that is grounded in the present and oriented toward the future. It emphasizes that the developmental goal of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations is to realize the free and full development of the individual. Although humanity lives in countries with different histories, cultures, institutions, and levels of development, their futures are closely intertwined, and their value goal of pursuing the free and full development of the individual is highly consistent. Today, the “four deficits” [8]8 The “four deficits” refer to the governance deficit, the trust deficit, the peace deficit, and the development deficit, as identified in Chinese official discourse on global challenges. in the world are intensifying, posing the most severe common challenge before humanity. Faced with these global problems, no country can stand aloof, yet Western capitalist civilization follows the developmental logic of “capital first” and “a strong country is bound to seek hegemony,” placing its own selfish interests above those of humanity. “Whoever develops well must be contained; whoever catches up must be tripped up” — this severely damages the common interests of all humanity, turning the free and full development of every individual into an empty dream. As an exploration of the transition from “personal independence founded on objective dependence” to the stage of “free individuality,” [9]9 These phrases are drawn from Marx’s *Grundrisse*, describing the three stages of human social development: relations of personal dependence, personal independence based on objective dependence, and free individuality. the new form of human civilization takes communist civilization as its direction of advance, which determines that its ultimate goal must be the realization of human emancipation and the free and full development of the individual. Under the tide of economic globalization, civilizational estrangement and developmental imbalance have become key factors hindering individual progress. Therefore, to realize human emancipation and the free and full development of the individual, it is necessary to continuously expand the breadth and depth of human civilizational interaction and to promote more comprehensive, closer, and deeper exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Through exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, the new form of human civilization joins hands with all countries to strive to build a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, and clean and beautiful, responding to the universal aspirations of the peoples of all countries for peace, development, and cooperation. It outlines a bright prospect for realizing the free and full development of the individual and interprets the civilizational essence of “when the great Way prevails, the world is for the common good.” [10]10 This is a classical Chinese phrase from the *Book of Rites* (《礼记》), describing an ideal society governed by the public good.

General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations systematically respond to major epochal propositions such as the developmental direction of current human civilizations, the ways of interaction among different civilizations, and the methods for shaping the future of human civilization. This series of discourses takes the “changes unseen in a century” as its historical frame of reference, uses the common values of all humanity as the spiritual bond, and, through the practical pathway of implementing the Global Civilization Initiative, [7]7 The Global Civilization Initiative is a major initiative proposed by Xi Jinping in March 2023, calling for respect for the diversity of civilizations, the common values of humanity, the importance of civilizational inheritance and innovation, and robust international people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation. collaboratively promotes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, thereby creating a new form of human civilization of shared prosperity. These discourses, grounded in the laws governing the development of human civilization, clarify the fundamental principles of equality, inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual appreciation in civilizational exchanges, deepening the scientific connotation of the coexistence and development of civilizations. They provide a model of civilizational exchange that holds significant value for learning and reference and is suitable for widespread practice among the world’s countries, point out the correct direction for civilizational development and progress in a world fraught with turmoil and change, and offer solid theoretical support and practical guidance for promoting human peaceful development and civilizational prosperity.