Sport's contribution to mankind's shared future hailed at event

China has made great efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind through the universal language of sports, Irina Bokova, former director-general of UNESCO, said after a high-profile dialogue in Tianjin on Saturday.

"I was very much impressed by the diversity of Chinese methods in sports, which are vital to peace because they aim for social fair play and respect human dignity in competition," she said. "It's a shared value in the international community."

The dialogue was held to memorialize former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who died in 2010. The theme was "the spirit of sports and the building of a shared future for mankind".

Held at the Samaranch Memorial Museum in Tianjin's southwestern Jinghai district, the event was initiated by David Gosset, founder of the Europe-China Forum.

Bokova and Wu Ching-kuo, a member of the IOC's executive board, shared their memories of Samaranch and some key moments in his life.

Samaranch was committed to strengthening connections between the Olympics and the UN and was involved in efforts to promote peace, including the joint presence of both the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Bokova said China's diverse methods and cultural values in sports were "fascinating, impressive and inspiring".

Yang Xiangquan, a professor in Tianjin Sports University's martial arts department, said: "China-born sport activities such as martial arts are pursued for inner peace and harmony. … That also explains why Chinese people are good at settling problems through negotiation and taking the middle road."

Wu, who designed and founded the Samaranch museum, said it displays 16,000 items from the former IOC president's personal collection, which Samaranch had given to him.

"I have set up four museums in China to promote the Olympic spirit. This one is the third and the largest," he said, noting that it covers 144,000 square meters.

Next year, to mark the 100th anniversary of Samaranch's birth, the museum will stage more memorial events including high-profile dialogues, Wu said.