Speech by H.E. Wang Yi

State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs

At the Inauguration Ceremony of

The Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Centre

20 July 2020

Colleagues and guests,

Today is an important day in China's diplomatic history, as we are gathered here to inaugurate the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Centre. On behalf of all members of the Chinese foreign service, I would like to extend our warm congratulations on the opening of the Study Centre. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the academics who have been dedicated to the study of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy and to the theoretical construction of China's foreign policy.

Great eras produce great ideas. This has been true throughout human history. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), socialism with Chinese characteristics has proudly entered a new era. The Chinese nation, which had endured so much in the past, has achieved a tremendous transformation: it has stood up, grown prosperous and is now becoming strong. China has never been so close to fulfilling the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation and never been so close to the center of the world stage.

At the same time, the world is going through complex and profound changes unseen in a century. With the foresight of a great strategic thinker and a keen appreciation of the laws of human society, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a comprehensive assessment of the trajectory of the international situation and the historical juncture in which China finds itself, and put forward a series of new ideas, new propositions and new initiatives with distinctive Chinese features, which reflect the call of our times and lead the trend of human progress. He has given clear answers to a series of key questions in theory and practice, namely, what kind of world and what type of international relations China should promote; what kind of foreign policy best serves China, and how China is to conduct diplomacy in the new era. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, or Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy for short, has thus been formed and established, pointing the direction and providing fundamental guidance for China's foreign policy in the new era.