PREFACE TO THE “UNDERSTANDING CHINA” SERIES

Zheng Bijian

This series of books covers the topic: Understanding China.

But why is “Understanding China” an important question?

At present, the world around us is going through unprecedented changes and nowhere more so is that the case than in China.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in the mid-20th century, and particularly over the past 40 years, a poor and backward country in East Asia with a population of over 1.3 billion has achieved incredible growth to become the world’s second largest economy.

It is therefore natural that people should ask: What exactly is going on in China, and what is the secret behind such rapid development?

It is also entirely natural for people to wonder: How can a rising China get along with the rest of the world?

As a result, misgivings about the country abound. All kinds of theories such as the “China threat”, the “Collapsing of China”, the“Thucydides’s Trap” and the “middle income trap” have been directed toward China.

There is no doubt that China should unflinchingly follow its own path and deal with its own matters well. That in itself means that in order to respond to people’s concerns, questions and misgivings, one thing must be done – Understand China.

It was precisely for this reason that the China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy (CIIDS), which I co-founded, joined together with the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) and the world-renowned 21st Century Council think tank to hold two Understanding China conferences in November 2013 and 2015.

These two important international meetings received the close attention and support of the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of China, Xi Jinping, who personally attended and held informal discussions with distinguished overseas participants; and Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, who gave the opening speeches at the first and second conferences respectively. Top leaders of departments in the Central Committee of the CPC and State Council also participated alongside senior political figures, experts and scholars from all over the world to undertake face-to-face meetings and answer questions.

The main lesson from the conferences was that confronting questions head-on, being sincere, seeking the truth from facts, and telling the stories of China, the CPC and China’s relations with the world, in lively and detailed ways, greatly helps those who care about China to gain new knowledge, and gradually allays the misgivings of those who are uncertain about China.

To achieve this goal we are moving the “Understanding China” international conference to books, videos and online, in order to respond to people’s concerns, questions and misgivings on a bigger scale and in more lively forms.

This series has not only received the enthusiastic support of relevant government departments, China International Publishing Group and the Foreign Languages Press, but also the full backing of experienced practitioners, experts and scholars, as well as government leaders.

This is the first set of books in the series. Whilst these are concerned mainly with the works of Chinese writers, future books will also feature writers from other countries.

This is also not simply a collection of books – it will be accompanied by television specials and online videos for people to enjoy.

In our opinion, “Understanding China”, including “Understanding the CPC” and “Understanding China’s Relations with the World” are all grand undertakings.

Let us passionately follow and participate in these undertakings together.

March 2018