BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) — The third “International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values” was held Wednesday in Beijing.

Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech.

Over 200 guests from various countries, regions and international organizations engaged in discussions on topics including “Democracy and Modern Governance,” “Democracy and the Rule of Law in the Digital Times,” “AI and the Future of Democracy” and “Democracy and Global Governance in a Multipolar World.”

They agreed that democracy is a significant sign of the progress of human civilization, and is what the CPC and the Chinese people have consistently been pursuing.

After long exploration, China has carved out a democratic development path with Chinese characteristics, which has safeguarded the democratic rights of over 1.4 billion Chinese people, and provided strong support for advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, according to the guests.

Noting that democracy is a common value of all mankind, the guests called for full respect for developing countries’ efforts to pursue, develop and realize democracy, and voiced their opposition to the acts of triggering division, spreading prejudice and undermining peace in the name of democracy.

The forum was hosted by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council Information Office, and co-organized by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the China Media Group and the China International Communications Group.  ■