On September 2, the Asia-Pacific Civil Society Conference, themed "Revisiting the Original Aspiration of Cooperation, Rallying Civil Forces, and Building an Asia-Pacific Community Together", opened in Jinan, Shandong. The conference was jointly hosted by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE) and the People's Government of Shandong Province. Xiao Jie, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and President of CNIE, Liu Haixing, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), and Lin Wu, Secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial People's Congress, attended and delivered speeches. More than 300 participants attended in person, including Mongkol Surasajja, Vice President of the National Assembly and President of the Senate of Thailand; Paul Paolo, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Vanuatu; Esther Gil de Rebole?o Lastortres, Third Vice-President of the Congress of Deputies of Spain; Chen Xu, Chair of the APEC 2026 Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM); along with political figures, experts and scholars, and corporate representatives from 36 countries, as well as officials from United Nations agencies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and relevant domestic departments. Zhou Hang, Director of the International Affairs Department of the Beijing Changier Education Foundation, and Wang Liu Siyu, Program Officer, attended by invitation.

In his speech, Xiao Jie noted that President Xi Jinping has pointed out that the Asia-Pacific is a place where we live and thrive, as well as a source of momentum for global economic growth. Over the past three decades and more, from envisioning an Asia-Pacific free trade blueprint to promoting the building of an Asia-Pacific community, regional cooperation has flourished and won broad public support, creating an "Asia-Pacific miracle" that has drawn worldwide attention. Under the current circumstances, efforts should be made to further consolidate public support, enhance people's well-being, pool civil wisdom, and unite public strength, so as to jointly safeguard prosperity, stability, and peace in the Asia-Pacific region. He emphasized that China is steadily advancing the "15th Five-Year Plan" and remains committed to high-standard opening-up. China is willing to work with Asia-Pacific civil society to implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, contributing civil strength to building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

Liu Haixing pointed out that amid global changes and growing uncertainties in the Asia-Pacific region, all parties should uphold openness, unleash innovation-driven momentum, and deepen practical cooperation, so as to bolster global economic stability through more dynamic regional cooperation. He said the IDCPC will continue to support CNIE in building platforms for exchange and cooperation, promoting people-to-people exchanges, industrial cooperation, and closer ties between peoples, so as to jointly build an open, dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community.

Lin Wu noted that Shandong is located at the intersection of the Belt and Road and at the center of Northeast Asian economic cooperation. He said Shandong is willing to work with friends across the Asia-Pacific to strengthen the foundation of people-to-people exchanges, expand pathways for economic and trade cooperation, build bridges for inter-civilizational exchange, and share wisdom on governance experience, thereby contributing Shandong's efforts to building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

Foreign guests in attendance expressed condolences over the casualties caused by the debris flow disaster in Gyirong, Xizang, and highly commended China's leading role in promoting the building of an Asia-Pacific community. They agreed that despite varying levels of development among Asia-Pacific countries, their shared pursuit of peace, prosperity, and inclusiveness has forged broad consensus. As an important force in regional cooperation, civil society should continue to play a bridging role, injecting civil vitality into APEC's "China Year".

During the conference, the Asia-Pacific Civil Society Partnership Action Plan was released. In the "Sharing Civil Practices" session, representatives from Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, and the United States shared vivid stories of their participation in people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries.

Zhou Naixiang, deputy secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and governor of Shandong Province, Ge Huijun, chairperson of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Shan Yi, member of the Standing Committee and secretary-general of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, Xu Hairong, deputy director and Party secretary of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial People's Congress, and Sun Ximin, vice governor of Shandong Province, attended the conference. Lu Kang, vice minister of the IDCPC, presided over the opening ceremony.

At the "Asia-Pacific Lounge" exchange event held on the afternoon of September 2, the Beijing Changier Education Foundation set up a dedicated exhibition booth, drawing wide attention from representatives of United Nations agencies, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations from various Asia-Pacific countries. As a social organization long committed to public welfare in youth education, the Beijing Changier Education Foundation has always upheld its mission of "serving young people and building a better future." It has actively responded to the Belt and Road Initiative and integrated itself into the broader landscape of international people-to-people exchange and cooperation. In recent years, the foundation has established extensive partnerships with international organizations, public welfare institutions, and non-governmental organizations in countries and regions including Germany, France, Switzerland, Turkey, Armenia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Zambia, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. It has carried out practical cooperation in areas such as adolescent sexual health education, HIV/AIDS prevention and control, mental health education, and traditional cultural exchange, using people-to-people exchanges to promote closer ties between peoples and contributing public welfare efforts to promoting people-to-people exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region and building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

Attending guests highly praised the Beijing Changier Education Foundation's sustained efforts and social achievements over the past 20 years in promoting the healthy development of young people. They engaged in in-depth dialogue with the Changier delegation on topics such as sexuality and gender education, adolescent mental health, and HIV/AIDS prevention and control, expressing their willingness to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation and jointly promote the healthy development of young people in the Asia-Pacific region.

On the morning of September 3, at the parallel forum on "Inclusive Development and People's Livelihood", Rachel Bayani, Principal Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations, invited by the Beijing Changier Education Foundation, spoke as a key guest at the roundtable dialogue. She gave a profound elaboration on "providing fair and equal opportunities and resources for society so that more people can benefit from development", which resonated widely with attendees.

Participation in the conference has provided an important platform for the Beijing Changier Education Foundation to expand its network of civil cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and laid a solid foundation for future international cooperation across multiple fields and at deeper levels. Taking this as an opportunity, the foundation will further deepen exchanges and mutual learning with civil organizations across Asia-Pacific countries, build consensus on cooperation, continue to promote the high-quality development of youth public welfare programs, and help advance Asia-Pacific civil cooperation in a deeper and more substantive direction.