The Understanding China Conference 2021 officially kicked off on Thursday afternoon with opening ceremonies in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The event provides a platform for the world to better understand the country and the Communist Party of China.

The theme this year — "Whence and Whither: The Unprecedented Changes in the World and China and the CPC" — underscores that grand proposition, said Lyu Yansong, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Lyu made the remark on Wednesday at the unveiling ceremony of the Understanding China Book Series during the conference in Guangzhou.

"Books will help the world better understand China and CPC," he said.

Zheng Bijian, chairman of China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy, said China's development and progress are ongoing, as is reform and opening-up.

"Understanding China's cause is always in progress," he said. "We expect the international community to understand and respect the Chinese people's unique historical experience and lofty aspiration to forge ahead."

Zheng Yongnian, a professor of political science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), said understanding China is a great cause.

"With the rapid development of China, some Western countries, intentionally or unintentionally, impose their own logic on China," Zheng said.

"Understanding China is the need of the era, and we need to take the initiative to help the international community understand China, as Western logic is not Chinese logic," he said.

Hundreds of former State leaders, senior business executives, strategists, scholars and entrepreneurs from around the world are expected to attend the four-day event online and offline this year.

Meanwhile, a series of parallel seminars, special dialogues and field visits to local companies, innovation centers and communities were organized to encourage Sino-foreign participants to sense the progress China has achieved in recent decades.

It is the third time Guangzhou has hosted the event. The southern metropolis organized the previous two events — in 2019 and last year — after Beijing held the first three events in 2013, 2015 and 2018.

The event has become one of the most prestigious and influential platforms for the world to understand China's domestic and international strategies.