To begin with, the state encourages social organizations to “Going Out” so that Chinese good stories and voices can be heard by the world. The present situation is, too little Chinese voice has been heard. For instance, the 69th Standing Council of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that took place during 27 November - 1 December 2017 in Geneva had a total of 83 social organizations from around the world, only 2 were from China. At the same time, how many western social organizations were there? Statistics show that 34.42% were from the U.S., 22.27% were from the U.K., France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Chinese social organizations accounted for only 2.3%. Second, encouraging social organizations to "Going Out” can be conducive to establishing a discourse system with Chinese characteristics. President Xi Jinping once pointed out that it is important to elaborately organize work for external publicity, innovate its approaches, attentively forge new concepts, new categories and new expressions for China-Overseas communication, tell good Chinese stories, and transmit good Chinese voice. Then, with social organizations’ “Going Out”, “Tell Good Chinese Stories, Build Good Bridges” and external publicity will be effectively carried out, thus enhancing China’s voice in world affairs. Furthermore, encouraging social organizations to “Go Out” will be beneficial for resolving possible conflicts in the future, which is also an important mission of the “Belt and Road” and the “Enhancing of Civil Communication”. In short, social organizations’ “Going Out” can help China to learn from others, upgrade itself, gain more insight into international game order and promote China’s participation in its formulation, proactively facilitate international cooperation in the “Belt and Road” Initiative, enhance civil communication, actively engage in global governance, create new impetus for synergetic development, and construct a community of shared future for mankind through joint discussion, joint development and joint sharing.
“Social Governance”: Could you please talk about CBCGDF’s achievements in its practical exploration of “Going Out”? Could you please share some experiences?
Dr. Zhou: As a leading Chinese ecological and environmental protection commonweal organization, CBCGDF has been devoted to proactively engaging in global environmental governance, confronting environmental and climate change, and walking at the forefront of relevant work, through various fields like biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Examples include proposing the Ecological “Belt and Road” Initiative, actively becoming involved in global governance, participating in the formulation of game rules, and promoting the incorporation of “A Community of Shared Future for Mankind” and Eco civilization into the “Global Pact for the Environment” etc.
On 10 May 2018, the General Assembly passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority and paved the way for negotiations on the “Global Pact for the Environment”. This international treaty compiled principal judicial guidelines guiding environmental protection activities into one document. In the past three decades, from the 1987 “Brundtland Report” to the 1995 “Draft Convention of the World Union for the Conservation of Nature”, to the 2017 protocol compiled by an expert panel whose around 100 members specializing in various law fields came from 40 different countries in the Northern and Southern hemisphere. The passage of such a text has been recurrently called for in the international legal society. The speech by President Xi Jinping at the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia is invigorating. It explicitly voiced China’s opinion and clarified China’s standpoint on further promoting the construction of Asia and a community of shared future for mankind and initiating a promising future for Asia and the world, thereby sending a “Letter of Invitation” to the world on constructing a bright future of a community of shared future for mankind. CBCGDF responded positively to the spirit of Party Central Committee and actively took part in relevant promotional work for the “Global Pact for the Environment” (draft). As a member of the “Global Pact for the Environment” expert panel, I have been calling for from various sides including China’s “A Community of Shared Future for Mankind” in the pact.
To promote the construction of international communication capacity, tell Chinese good stories, transmit Chinese good voice, serve China’s “Go Out” strategy, CBCGDF relies on its professional features and resource advantages to innovate social governance, advocate ecological and green “Belt and Road” Initiative and “A Community of Shared Future for Mankind”, and effectively engage in global environmental governance. From “Import - Deeply Absorb International Talents”, “Go Out - Proactively Expand International Communication Space”, “Volunteer to Join Influential International Organizations”, “Establish High-level Dialogue”, “Transmit Common Aspirations through Chinese Good Stories”, “Seek Common Ground While Reserving the Differences”, “Enhance Diligent Actions”, “Establish an Extensive Cooperation Mechanism via Diverse Channels”, “Seize the Opportunity — Engage in Global Environmental Governance”, to “Reflect on Failures and Lessons”, CBCGDF has practically exerted its soft power in the globalization of non-profitable activities.
“Social Governance”: What do you think about the practical difficulties facing social organizations during their “Go Out” process? For these practical difficulties, what are your suggestions?
Dr. Zhou: There is a long way to go and many obstacles for social organizations to "Go Out" and serve the "Belt and Road" Initiative and "A Community of Shared Future for Mankind". Presently, China has a total of over 800000 social organizations in areas including poverty alleviation, hygiene, education, environmental protection, and climate change. Compared with international leading NGOs, Chinese NGOs identify their work as being more folk-based and face challenges in aspects such as the legal environment, funding, experience and human resources. There remains much to be done for NGOs to “Go Out”. It is reported that Chinese NGOs in foreign affairs account for no more than 1%, which can be said infinitesimal. Moreover, the extent and depth of foreign affairs should be urgently improved as well.
The first difficulty lies in capacity building. In May 2016, the Ministry of Civil Affairs promulgated a document "Notice of the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Promoting the Installation of Press Spokesman System in National and Provincial Social Organizations" (issued by The Ministry of Civil Affairs (2016) No. 80), in order to solve "problems like late press release, passive information disclosure, inadequate guidance of public opinion, failure to meet public expectation, and adverse impact on the image and credibility of social organizations". This document came in due time and was very effective, but such a mechanism has not been applied to international demands in foreign affairs and the "Belt and Road" Initiative. The "Belt and Road" Initiative requires the enhancing of civil communication and the transmitting of Chinese good voice. What we have discovered in our practical exploration of "Go Out" is a need for the "Press Spokesman" awareness and capacity in "Go Out" social organizations. It is hoped that government departments may consider organizing training for NGOs' "Go Out" spokesmen so as to help them upgrade capacity and tell better Chinese stories from a folk viewpoint.
Another is the problem of "Talent Bottleneck" widely prevalent in social organizations; but during the practice of the globalization of non-profitable activities, absorbing international talents is indispensable. For this, we have made efforts in three aspects: The first is to recruit returnees with overseas educational background; the second is to invite international experts in related fields to be CBCGDF's advisors, directing and deeply engaging in CBCGDF's work; the third is to facilitate the involvement of young people, including the absorbing of international students studying in China, Chinese volunteers studying and working abroad, foreign university students into CBCGDF's volunteer team. This will, on one hand, provide them with opportunities to participate more extensively in fields of ecological and environmental protection both in and out of China; on the other, this will guide and lead them to grow into friendly messengers for the exchange in environmental protection between China and foreign countries, and lay bridges for more interactive activities. Satisfying interactions have been developed so far, at a minimal cost but with noticeable accomplishments and benefits.
“Social Governance”: The 19th CPC National Congress Report pointed out that, the renaissance of a country relies on the renaissance of its young people, as the strengthening of a country relies on the strengthening of its young people. If the younger generation has due ambition, capability, and accountability, there will be a promising future for a country and a bright prospect for its people. Social organizations can help young people to better “Going Out”. For this, what are CBCGDF’s thoughts and innovations?
(Photo credit: CBCGDF)