We should respect and maintain the diversity of the world's civilizations. The diverse civilizations are a hallmark of human society and an important driving force behind human progress. Our world today has over 6 billion inhabitants living in more than 200 countries and regions. They break down into over 2,500 ethnic groups and speak more than 5,000 different languages. Be it historical tradition, faith and culture, or social system, values and level of development, those countries or regions are often different from one another. It is these differences that make our planet dazzling, colorful and bustling with life.

Such diversity is a legacy of history and will stay with us into the future. The ancient Chinese thinker Confucius once said, "All living creatures grow together without harming one another; ways run parallel without interfering with one another." Instead of harboring bias against or deliberately belittling other civilizations, we should give full respect to the diversity of civilizations. Instead of shutting each other out in mutual exclusion, we should encourage dialog and exchange between civilizations so that they can learn from each other in mutual emulation. Instead of demanding uniformity and imposing one's will on others, we should promote common development of all civilizations in the course of mutual tolerance and seeking agreement while shelving differences.