ADDIS ABABA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian scholars have praised China's Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) as a significant step toward building a shared future and addressing global crises.
These remarks were made during a high-level dialogue, titled "The Civilization Lecture Series," held Saturday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. The event aimed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the civil societies of China and Ethiopia.
Yonas Adaye, commissioner of the Ethiopian National Dialogue, told Xinhua that GCI serves as a platform for nations to conduct exchanges and understand each other's civilizations based on win-win cooperation.
"As the Chinese president proposed, a new Global Civilization Initiative is absolutely mandatory, making every human being responsible for their survival and saving the planet from catastrophic disasters," Adaye said.
Appreciating China's commitment to promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, Adaye said African leaders need to draw lessons from Chinese civilization and make people a source of power to build trust between their governments and citizens.
"The lesson we can learn from Chinese civilization is cooperation, harmony, working together, listening to each other, and celebrating and respecting diversity," Adaye added.
He noted that Chinese culture, based on hard work, respect, dignity, humanity and communality, aligns with the African philosophy of Ubuntu -- "I Am Because We Are."
Gedion Gamora, a senior adviser to the United Nations Development Program, said Chinese civilization serves as an important model for African countries aspiring to achieve rapid economic growth and development.
"China has an ancient civilization that dates back more than 5,000 years. It has a lot to share with the world, particularly African countries, in realizing peaceful coexistence, bringing fast economic growth, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, and expanding industrialization and infrastructure development," Gamora said.
He said the high standard of railways, industrial parks, economic zones, roads and ports built in China are valuable lessons for African countries to replicate and spur their development and accelerate the continental free trade area.
Melaku Mulualem, a senior researcher in international relations and diplomacy at the Ethiopian Institute of Foreign Affairs, said GCI is an excellent opportunity to promote peace, development and mutual learning among the world's civilizations.
"African and Chinese civilizations complement each other, and African countries can leverage Chinese civilization to promote peaceful coexistence, mutual learning and common development," Mulualem said.
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