Qiao Zonghuai's speech at the meeting

Speech at the high-level forum of international immigration dialogue.

Mr. President, delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to attend this high-level forum on international migration dialogue. I wish the forum a complete success.

Mr. President, thousands of years of human development history is a history of immigration. "How can the canal be so clear because there is running water at the source?" Immigrants have continuously injected new vitality into human civilization and made great contributions to cultural exchanges, economic development and social progress in various countries. With the in-depth development of economic globalization, personnel exchanges between countries have become increasingly frequent, and the number of global immigrants has increased significantly. However, illegal immigration, transnational organized crime, violation of migrants' legitimate rights and interests, and brain drain from developing countries have brought new challenges to the immigration problem. We should seek advantages and avoid disadvantages and give full play to the positive role of immigrants in promoting development.

With the international community paying more and more attention to environmental issues, the relationship between immigrants and the environment is also worthy of our in-depth study. China believes that in the tide of globalization, the issues of environment and immigration are intertwined and influence each other. On the one hand, sudden natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as environmental changes brought about by industrialization, such as desertification, greenhouse effect and sea level rise, sometimes cause immigration problems. On the other hand, large-scale migration will also have a certain impact on the local environment in the resettlement area. However, we must point out that immigration is by no means the main cause of environmental damage, and the environment is not the root cause of immigration. The two are not antagonistic. China has a cultural tradition of advocating nature since ancient times, advocating the thought and wisdom of the unity of man and nature and the unity of things and me. We believe that human beings and the environment should develop harmoniously. Immigration and environment are essentially development issues. Only within the framework of sustainable development can we handle the relationship between migration and environment and build a prosperous and harmonious world.