On the morning of October 16, CHEN Qi, Secretary General of the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) and Professor of International Relations at Tsinghua University, visited the secretariat of the World Historic and Cultural Canal Cities Cooperation Organization (WCCO) in Yangzhou. DENG Qing, Secretary-General of WCCO, held a dialogue with the CISS team. XIA Ying, member of the leading Party members group of the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office of Yangzhou and Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Yangzhou, and XU Pei, Director of the Coordination Division of the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office of Yangzhou, accompanied the team during their visit.

Deng Qing welcomed the CISS team and presented to them Yangzhou’s leading role in the push to have the Grand Canal listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as an overview of the history and development of WCCO and its endeavors to preserve and promote the Grand Canal culture, the upgrades of the World Canal Cities Forum, and the major achievements due to be released at this year’s forum, including Canal Cities Implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—A Report on Sustainable Development in Yangzhou (2021) and the World Canal Dictionary. Furthermore, she introduced the vision of the organization and expressed the hope for further guidance from Tsinghua University and closer cooperation between the two institutions.

Chen Qi gave an introduction to CISS’s major developments in recent years, noting that while Tsinghua attaches great importance to teaching activities and academic researches, it is also committed to serving major national strategic needs, international engagements and cooperation, and local economic and social developments. He acknowledged the invaluable contribution of WCCO to global canal development and China’s foreign affairs, and expressed his appreciation for the informative exchanges and presentations which deepened the team’s understanding of the historical, national and diplomatic missions of WCCO.  Chen stated that he looked forward to utilizing Tsinghua’s talents and academic resources to hold more robust dialogues and cooperation with the city of Yangzhou and WCCO, so as to firmly implement the university’s efforts in serving the society.  

The dialogue concluded with both sides reaching the consensus that, against the backdrop of the complex international landscape, it is of great significance for them to further explore the connotations of the canals for contributing to the creation of the community with a shared future for mankind, and that both sides should grasp the opportunity to advance exchanges and cooperation to deliver win-win outcomes for all.