The Forum on "Heralding a New Chapter for Cultural Exchange Under the Belt and Road Initiative" (part of the Maritime Silk Road International Documentary Film Festival) and Sub-Session on People-to-People Exchange of the 7th Taihe Civilizations Forum (TCF) was held in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, on July 3.

Participants had in-depth discussions on three topics: enhancing China's cultural confidence and extending its international discourse reach under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a new chapter in cultural exchanges and Track II diplomacy for countries along the Belt and Road in the "Internet Plus" era, and cooperation in the education and cultural industries under the BRI.

Photo shows the Forum on "Heralding a New Chapter for Cultural Exchange Under the Belt and Road Initiative" (part of the Maritime Silk Road International Documentary Film Festival) and Sub-Session on People-to-People Exchange of the 7th Taihe Civilizations Forum (TCF) in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, on July 3. (Photo courtesy of the organizer)

Gu Boping, chief cultural scholar of the Taihe Institute, said the BRI gives China a good opportunity to rapidly strengthen its international discourse power and cultural confidence.

With regard to cultural confidence, China should integrate its traditional culture with different sectors of modern society, and encourage the younger generation to learn about and carry forward traditional culture, said Gu. At the same time, people-to-people and cultural exchanges need to be enhanced in the context of the BRI, showing that no one culture is superior to any other, he added.

Siddharth Chatterjee, the UN Development System Resident Coordinator in China，noted that cross-cultural communication is essential to carrying out effective cooperation and safeguarding peace.

In the past decade since the BRI was proposed, governments of the participating countries have engaged in frequent exchanges, and various forms of communication have also been carried out between their academic communities, civil societies, private sectors and non-governmental organizations.

Photo shows the Forum on "Heralding a New Chapter for Cultural Exchange Under the Belt and Road Initiative" (part of the Maritime Silk Road International Documentary Film Festival) and Sub-Session on People-to-People Exchange of the 7th Taihe Civilizations Forum (TCF) in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, on July 3. (Photo courtesy of the organizer)

To deal with misunderstandings and misinterpretations of BRI overseas, China should not only address the deficiencies in translation and exposition in English, but also try to bridge the differences in cultural values, said Ong Tee Keat, chairman of the Malaysia-based think tank the Center for New Inclusive Asia.

According to Ding Yifan, senior fellow at the Taihe Institute, a country's economy has a direct bearing on how inclusive it is of different cultures. The BRI has fuelled economic development in countries along the route, and also reinforced cross-civilizational dialogue, which helps fundamentally resolve conflicts between civilizations.

Building trust is important for personal, business and international relations, said Einar Tangen, senior fellow at the Taihe Institute and chairman at Asia Narratives. Currently, the trust deficit in the international community has led to widening gaps in differences between individuals, institutions, and countries, and China can narrow this growing trust gap through promoting people-to-people exchanges on all fronts.

Huang Haibo, deputy head of the Phoenix Chinese Channel, said China should emphasize three aspects in a bid to enhance its international discourse power: creating quality content with Chinese characteristics, covering global events in a timely manner, and taking full advantage of new media, technologies and trends to enhance China's presence.