Page 5 - ON BUILDING A HUMAN COMMUNITY WITH A SHARED FUTURE

ON BUILDING A HUMAN COMMUNITY WITH A SHARED FUTURE

all these areas of cooperation to work, we must have the support of our
people. We must encourage an increase in friendly exchanges between
our peoples to enhance mutual understanding and traditional friendships
and build strong foundations of public support and social underpinnings
for regional cooperation.

Note
1 Zhang Qian (?–114 BC) was a minister of the Western Han Dynasty. In order to
forge an alliance with the ethnic groups in the Western Regions (the area west of Yumen and
Yangguan passes) to resist the Xiongnu, Zhang twice traveled to the Western Regions at his
emperor’s command, first in 138 BC and again in 119 BC, reaching as far as Central Asia.
His travels strengthened the ties between the Central Plains and the Western Regions, and
contributed to the opening up of the Silk Road.
2 The Silk Road was a trade thoroughfare on land connecting ancient China with South
Asia, West Asia, Europe and North Africa through Central Asia. The name derives from the
bustling trade in silk and silk products from China to the western regions.
3 Xian Xinghai (1905–1945) was a Chinese musician.
4 The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an international intergovernmental
organization established on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai by six countries — China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its prototype was the Shanghai Five
Mechanism. The main goals of the SCO are strengthening mutual trust and good neighborly
relations among the member countries; promoting effective cooperation in politics, economy,
science and technology, and culture as well as education, energy, transportation, environmental
protection and other fields; safeguarding and ensuring peace, security and stability in the
region; and moving toward the establishment of a new, international political and economic
order that is democratic, just and equitable. The heads of state meet once every year, and the
heads of government meet on a regular basis, alternatively in each of the member states.

50