Themed "Multilateralism 2.0: Global Cooperation in the Post-Pandemic Era", the 
2021 Imperial Springs International Forum concluded in Guangzhou on December 6. 
Over 160 guests from political, academic, and business circles in more than 30 
countries attended the forum online or on-site.

Guests exchanged insights and inspirations on six key themes, respectively 
"Multilateralism and Sustainable Development", "Advancing Reform and 
Opening-up, Promoting Win-Win Cooperation", "Global Governance and China's 
Perspective", "Inclusive, Sustainable and Resilient Cities in the Belt and Road 
Initiative", "The Belt and Road Initiative for New Opportunities and New 
Cooperation" and "China-Australia Economic and Trade Relations". The 
discussions are highlighted by the consensus on the major role multilateralism 
plays in post-pandemic global cooperation, and the release of the 2021 Imperial 
Springs Statement.  

As the Statement suggests, human beings are a community of shared future. 
Delegates from various nations agreed on fighting the pandemic and addressing 
global challenges as a unified whole. No country is immune to the threats of 
COVID-19, which is why solidarity and cooperation are the essential components 
of the cure, something the world needs now more than ever.

Margaret Chan, Founding Dean of Tsinghua Vanke School of Public Health and 
former Director-General of the World Health Organization, said at a session on 
the morning of Dec. 6th that the pandemic has exposed the weakness in global 
health governance and cooperation. In this interconnected world full of 
uncertainties, global cooperation is necessary to solving our common challenges 
and improving global health governance.

The 2021 Imperial Springs Statement calls for concrete actions from all 
countries to enhance multilateral cooperation, uphold the international system 
with UN at its core, and stand by the basic norms governing international 
relations based on the principles of the UN Charter.

In his video message, Antonio Guterres, former Secretary-General of the United 
Nations called for "a more inclusive network and effective multilateralism", 
suggesting that new multilateralism solutions are needed to address common 
challenges facing mankind. 

Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom said at the forum 
that problems like social injustices, climate change, vaccine inequalities and 
digital insecurities are global in nature, which require global solutions. The 
world needs to act together at this very time.

Esko Aho, former Prime Minister of Finland said countries must work together to 
make common rules and promote open, multilateral trade to enable win-win and 
make sure everyone is "able to be joined to the common goals and objectives".

A prevalent belief among participants is that, to address global challenges, 
countries should advocate common values of mankind, consistently uphold 
multilateralism and promote the democratization of international relations. 
Only by advancing solidarity and cooperation under the new paradigm of win-win 
and common development, can the world build a community with a shared future 
for mankind.

Source: 2021 Imperial Springs International Forum