Let foreigners sigh at the changes in China, saying "Have you eaten yet?" Internet | Video | China

"When I first arrived in Beijing, I often heard Chinese people say hello with 'Have you eaten yet'. Today, in many restaurants in Beijing, I see more signs of 'Clean Your Plate Campaign', reminding people not to waste food."

Speaking of the changes in China over the years, Shaq, a member of the Advisory Committee for the China Arab Countries Expo, who has settled in China for 22 years, said so.

On July 18th, at the 2023 China Network Civilization Conference Network Civilization International Exchange and Mutual Learning Forum, multiple foreign experts and representatives discussed how Chinese and foreign civilizations can exchange, learn from each other, and coexist through the "Internet" as a bridge.

They use several experiences to tell the story of China's development

This forum is guided by the Cyberspace Administration of China, China Radio and Television Corporation, and China News Service. It is hosted by the China Academy of Cyberspace Studies, the Chinese Language Global Program Center, and China News Network, and hosted by the China Cyberspace Magazine.

On the forum, Shaw mentioned that in the eyes of many foreign young people, China's most prominent feature is no longer just the "infrastructure giant" of the past. Now, China's high-speed rail, cross-border e-commerce, game companies, and social software are all very attractive to them. China's public goods to the outside world are transforming from road construction and hydropower construction to building networks, high-speed railways, and social software and games for going global.

Shawk believes that the "the Belt and Road" initiative provides the world with mutually beneficial opportunities and platforms, especially for developing countries, which provide the most needed development elements. China is the best partner for many developing countries, and entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs have enormous opportunities. He said that the world is changing, so we also need to adjust our thinking and embrace change. China's decades of development experience, the strength of Chinese enterprises, and the size of the Chinese market are the main reasons why many countries are willing to consider China as a strategic partner.

Pan Weilian, an American professor at Xiamen University, also spoke about the impact of the Internet on the exchange of Chinese and foreign civilizations with his own experience.

"The first phone I bought in Xiamen cost 450 dollars and took three years to install. But less than five years later, we had the Internet. Today, I like to joke that the Chinese people had no money 30 years ago, but today they still have no money, because everything can be used by hand. I have not used cash for many years, and everything I need will be delivered to my door, which is like science fiction. When I go to other countries and have to use cash and credit cards, I think I am back 20 years ago."

In Pan Weilian's view, the Internet has changed all aspects of life in a way that people have never imagined, but its greatest possibility is to help people bridge the barriers between people and countries.

Rahman from Turkmenistan is an international student studying at China University of Petroleum. When talking about the communication convenience brought by the Internet, he felt the same way. "The internet not only provides us with an excellent platform to understand and understand China, but also expands our channels from our own perspective, telling the stories of our international students' China to countries around the world and telling the stories of Central Asia to Chinese teachers and friends."

In Ruo Herman's view, short videos, vlogs, live streaming platforms, Weibo, and Toutiao accounts are all online platforms through which international students can play their role as a bridge of friendship.

He believes that young students studying abroad should actively take action, make more voices on the internet, establish a good image, spread positive energy, play a good role as bridges and links, and contribute to promoting people to people communication among countries.

With the Internet as the bridge, how can the world "share a common destiny"?

There is no doubt that the Internet has changed the way of human life with unprecedented power, making the world a "global village". However, the arrival of the Internet era has also brought many new problems that need to be solved.

Michel Genovese, honorary chairman of Belgium International Joint Initiative Multilateral Cooperation Organization, said in his video speech that human beings use, need and rely on tools, networks and infrastructure related to Internet civilization, which has shaped and promoted all aspects of our social development, but also created new challenges and problems.

For example, the so-called "digital divide", due to the lack of availability of funds, geography, society, and technology, is not possible for everyone to gain internet advantages; In addition, there are potential negative impacts of Internet use, such as the damage of Internet addiction to cognitive development, the damage of information overload to public or private boundaries, and the damage to social relations and communities. These new problems and challenges require joint solutions.

In Michelle Genovese's view, these new issues and challenges require full consultation and sharing of solutions among countries.

The cyberspace is a common space for human activities, and the future and destiny of cyberspace should be jointly controlled by countries around the world. In fact, China has already provided its own answer to these new challenges and problems in cyberspace - building a community with a shared future in cyberspace.

As for the current exchange of human civilization and global Internet governance, Martin Alblau, a world-renowned sociologist and academician of the British Academy of Social Sciences, specifically mentioned the concept of "community of shared future" proposed by China in his video speech.

Martin Alblau stated that China has always been at the forefront of supporting global governance. In 2013, China proposed the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, which marks another important step for China in actively participating in the process of global governance.