Liu said, President Xi Jinping's recent significant address at the Central Economic Work Conference further clarified what kind of development China is committed to and how to promote it in the new era. China in the new era is devoted to high-quality development, high-level opening-up, pursuing progress while ensuring stability, and green development. China's economic aggregate has been steadily increasing, and innovation has become the primary driving force for its economic development. The fundamentals of China's long-term sound economic growth will remain sound. China will appropriately handle the relationship between development and security, independent innovation and opening-up, deepen reforms, expand opening-up, especially promote institutional opening-up, create a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, and provide new development opportunities for the world.

Liu said, China's strategic goal is both ambitious and simple: to enable the 1.4 billion Chinese people to live better lives. China is firmly committed to the path of peaceful development, having never initiated a war or occupied an inch of foreign land since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. China is a founder, beneficiary, and upholder of the existing international order and has no intention of changing it or establishing a new order. The highest goal of China's diplomacy in the new era is to build a community with a shared future for mankind, with the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative serving as strategic guides and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation serving as a practical platform. No matter how the international situation changes, China will always work with all countries to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and jointly create a future of peace, security, prosperity, and progress.

Liu said, since the establishment of diplomatic ties 45 years ago, China-U.S. relations have brought huge benefits to the two peoples and made important contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity. The recent successful meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden has created the San Francisco Vision for the future. China and the U.S. should enhance dialogue and communication, promote dialogue at all levels between governments, legislative bodies, and political parties of both countries, and implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, especially the invitation of 50,000 American youth to study in China over the next five years. Both sides should properly manage differences. The two heads of state have emphasized that they had no intention to conflict with each other. The two sides must understand and respect each other's principles and bottom lines, clearly recognizing each other's interests that must be safeguarded, principles that must be upheld, and red lines that must not be crossed. Both sides should expand mutually beneficial cooperation to bring a sense of gain to the people of both countries and add stability to bilateral relations. This is the valuable experience in the development of China-U.S. relations over the past 45 years and a direction we should continue to adhere to. Both sides should cooperate to address challenges. The world is in a period of turbulence and changes, where people around the world expect China and the U.S. to take the lead in solving more global issues and providing more public goods. The Chinese side is willing to work with the U.S. side to demonstrate the responsibility of major countries and make new and greater contributions to human progress.

During the interactive session, Liu answered questions on China's view on global order, China-U.S. relations, China-Russia relations, the Ukraine crisis, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the safety of international navigation in the Red Sea, nuclear disarmament, China's economic development prospects, investment environment, Western media's bias against China, the Taiwan question, the Hong Kong issue, and other issues.

Michael Froman, President of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, presided over the event. Before the speech, Liu also had discussions with the editorial team of the Foreign Affairs Magazine.

The Council on Foreign Relations, established in 1921, is a well-known American think tank with significant influence in the field of diplomacy.

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