World Leadership Alliance Delegation Visits Imperial Springs International Summit
23rd March,2015
Invited by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Wim Kok, Founding President of the World Leadership Alliance and former Prime Minister of the Netherlands; Jorge Quiroga, Vice President of the World Leadership Alliance and former President of Bolivia; Danilo Turk, former President of Slovenia and Member of Club de Madrid; together with six other important guests visited the Imperial Springs International Summit on March 23, 2015.
The delegation was accompanied by Mr. Xie Yuan, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and Dr. Chau Chak Wing, Chairman of the KINGOLD Group and President of the Association of Australia China Friendship and Exchange.
The delegation suggested that as an international platform for exchanges
and cooperation, the development of the Imperial Springs International Summit was conducive to in-depth and pragmatic cooperation between China and other countries in the world, to enhance mutual understanding in trade and culture and to promote win-win cooperation and common prosperity.
The green mountain and clear water of the Imperial Springs International Summit was further enhanced by the addition of a new friendship tree, a symbol of long-lasting friendship between Chinese and foreign leaders. It was planted by delegates from the World Leadership Alliance; Mr. Xie Yuan, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Dr. Chau Chak Wing, Chairman of the KINGOLD Group and President of the Association of Australia China Friendship and Exchange.
Dr. Chau Chak Wing remarked that it was a great pleasure to gather at the Imperial Springs International Summit. The thriving friendship garden witnessed the booming cooperation between China and other countries ofthe world. And the planting of a new friendship tree also indicated that an even broader platform for mutual understanding, communication, cooperation and friendship was being built.
“This is impressive”
“China is a big country, whose development in economy, politics, social undertaking and culture is influencing the world. That’s why we need to come here and learn more,” said Mr. Wim Kok, Founding President of the World Leadership Alliance and former Prime Minister of the Netherlands. What they saw at the Imperial Springs International Summit is the epitome of China’s development, and promoted the observation.
Jorge Quiroga, Vice President of the Club de Madrid and former President of Bolivia, had high expectations for economic cooperation between China and the world. He suggested that China was not only a buyer of world commodities, but also a creditor country, which offered loans and bought goods from Latin Americas countries and was becoming an investor. “What we should do is to push this buyer to become an investor and partner, and learn from each other in economy and trade, culture and history.” Mr. Quiroga thought that the Asian Infrastructure Investment bank was very conducive to the development of Latin American countries, because compared to the developed countries in Europe and America which did not understand what challenges Latin American countries were facing, China, as a developing country itself, knew better of these challenges.
Backgrounder:
World Leadership Alliance
Founded by Wim Kok, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands,
the World Leadership Alliance is an influential international organization comprising more than 100 former leaders from 70 countries and regions. The Alliance aims to promote world harmony through dialogues among governments, academic communities, businesses and civil societies, and to build bridges between countries to act together in the face of social and political challenges.