GASME News

International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry (Shanghai) Opened

Themed “Our Planet, Our Home”, the International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry: Great Mountains and Rivers (Shanghai) opened at East China Normal University on the afternoon of September 22.

The opening ceremony was attended by over a hundred distinguished guests from various sectors including: Christian Wulff, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany (10th term), Honorary Chairman of the Global Alliance of SMEs (GASME), and recipient of the 2022 Chinese Government Friendship Award; Zhou Hanmin, Standing Committee Member of the National Committee of CPPCC and President of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association; Wu Jian, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of East China Normal University; Dr. Norbert Riedel, German Consul General in Shanghai; Bao Yan, Vice President of the Chinese Poetry Society and General Manager of Rongbaozhai; Yang Yiming, Advisor and former Vice President of the Chinese Poetry Society; Wang Zhenghua, Co-Chairman of the GASME Sustainable Development Committee and Chairman of Spring Tour Group; Frank Cao (Weibai), Executive Chairman and Secretary-General of GASME and Director of the International Exchange Center for Poetry of Li Bai; Han Chunhong, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the School of Foreign Languages at East China Normal University; Guo Fengcheng, Vice President of the China Association of International Investment Promotion; Hong Yongqing, General Counsel of the Global Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Director of the Shanghai Office of the Council for Promoting South-South Cooperation; Zhao Yanchun, renowned Chinese translator and Dean of the Academy of Chinese Wisdom and Cultural Mirrors (Hainan University); Jessica Luk, Senior Vice Chairman of the GASME Sustainable Development Committee and HICG President; Wang Enuo, Director of the Center for Sino-European Civilizational Mutual Learning of East China Normal University; Qiu Yiping, President of the International Society for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Engineering and President of the Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Alumni Association; Wei Baolong, Vice President of the Shanghai Public Relations Association and Chairman of Shanghai Zhenwei Investment Development Co., Ltd.; Tian Xiaohong, Deputy Secretary-General and Chief Representative of the Shanghai Representative Office of the Silk Road International General Chamber of Commerce; Zhang Xuefang, Vice President of the Chinese Poetry Society Strait Poetry Research Institute, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Poetry Platform of Listening to the Rain in a Small Building; Yan Tingyue, Vice President of Shenzhen Evergreen Poetry College and popular online poet; Luo Moyu, Executive Dean of Beijing Contemporary Hanmo Culture and Art Academy; and Chen Li, Deputy Director of the International Exchange Center for Poetry of Li Bai.

Former German President Christian Wulff spoke highly of the International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry: Weibai’s unique global travels and profound poetic cultivation have resulted in his work the World in Poetry, Great Mountains and Rivers: A Hundred Quatrains, which is rich in imagination and sublime in artistic conception. Through this exhibition, the theme “Our Planet, Our Home” will surely be disseminated worldwide, injecting fresh and enduring strength into global peace and beauty.

Zhou Hanmin, Standing Committee Member of the CPPCC National Committee, stated in his speech: China’s great mountains and rivers, with their unique natural landscapes and profound cultural heritage, provide an Eastern paradigm for the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature for the world. The International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry is an artistic dialogue transcending language and national borders, fully embodying Shanghai’s city spirit of inclusiveness and the pursuit of excellence.

Wu Jian, Vice President of East China Normal University, expressed that the International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry, which is rooted in Chinese poetry and painting and themed around the world’s great mountains and rivers, deserves attention and participation from people across the nation and even the globe. Because it interprets, in the most elegant way, the lofty ideal we pursue – “Appreciating one’s own beauty and that of others, and achieving shared beauty.” It effectively promotes the outstanding traditional Chinese culture to the world in the most artistic way. And it inspires people’s yearning and love for great mountains and rivers in the most captivating way, uniting them to participate in actions to protect our planet.

Bao Yan, Vice President of the Chinese Poetry Society, commented: “Standing at the head of the waves in the tide, holding the red flag in hand, not getting wet.” Reading Mr. Weibai’s poem, I suddenly thought of these two lines from the poet Pan Lang’s Jiu Quan Zi of Song Dynasty. Opening Great Mountains and Rivers the Hundred Quatrians of the World in Poetry, one is greeted by a majestic and uplifting spirit of determination, and Mr. Weibai is the one who bravely stands in the tide of contemporary poetry.

A welcome banquet was held that evening in the Pujiang Hall of the Shanghai International Convention Center by the Huangpu River. Yang Yiming, Advisor and former Vice President of the Chinese Poetry Society, said in his banquet speech that the successful hosting of the Exhibition Tour (Shanghai) demonstrates the robust vitality of Chinese poetry. Li Bai is the brightest star in the firmament of Chinese poetry, the most glorious name card among poets throughout history. The enduring resonance and freshness of Li Bai’s poems prove that ‘as long as Chinese characters exist, poetry will not perish’, and Weibai is a new star in the realm of Chinese poetry. Also delivering speeches at the banquet were Han Chunhong, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the School of Foreign Languages at East China Normal University; Tian Xiaohong, Deputy Secretary-General and Chief Representative of the Shanghai Representative Office of the Silk Road International General Chamber of Commerce; and Jessica Luk, Senior Vice Chairman of the GASME Sustainable Development Committee and HICG President.

The banquet also featured the launch ceremony for the 2025 Global Family Business Cooperation and Development Conference and the award ceremony for the International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry (Shanghai). Professors Wang Enuo and Zhao Yanchun were both honored with the “Outstanding Contribution Award for the International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry (Shanghai)”.

The International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry project was launched in the ancient city of Xi’an in January last year, with former UN Secretary-General and Chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia Ban Ki-moon attending the launch ceremony. The inaugural exhibition of the Tour was held at the Chang’an Academy in Xi’an this January. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sent a congratulatory message for the inaugural exhibition, stating: “Great Mountains and Rivers the Hundred Quatrians of the World in Poetry by Weibai eulogizes the beauty of the Earth, inspiring people of all countries to yearn for the great mountains and rivers and love the Earth, so as to protect our home more consciously, which is of positive significance for building a community with a shared future for mankind and achieving the 2030 sustainable development goals of the United Nations.”

Shanghai is the second stop of the International Tour. The exhibition features over 100 poetic works by ancient Chinese masters like Li Bai and Du Fu, as well as contemporary landscape poet Weibai. Each poem is accompanied by a painting, with the artworks divided into two main categories: works by renowned Chinese painters (including ink and oil paintings) and AI-generated creative paintings. The Chinese characters for “the World in Poetry” were inscribed by the renowned Chinese writer Jia Pingwa, former Vice Chairman of the 9th China Writers Association.

The International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry boasts three key highlights: First, Initiation by International Leaders. Proposed by global leaders such as former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former German President Christian Wulff, the Tour celebrates the Earth’s beauty and cherishes our human home, endowing it with a global perspective and stature from its inception. Second, A Pioneering Poetry Tour. Planned to tour major cities across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, with hundreds of political and business leaders attending and inscribing endorsements, it pioneers a global poetry touring exhibition. Third, Breaking Traditional Boundaries. Spanning great mountains and rivers across five continents, with poems presented in rhymed Chinese and English for Eastern and Western appreciation; featuring the collaboration of poets, painters, and AI, integrating classical poetry, traditional painting art, and modern technology, it represents a bold practice and innovation in the international history of poetry and painting.

The International Exhibition Tour of the World in Poetry (Shanghai) was jointly organized by the GASME International Artists Committee; Center for Sino-European Civilizational Mutual Learning of East China Normal University; Chinese Culture Promotion Society International Exchange Fund Management Committee; International Economic and Technical Cooperation Working Committee of China Association of International Investment Promotion; Academy of Chinese Wisdom and Cultural Mirrors (Hainan University); Council for Promoting South-South Cooperation Shanghai Office; China Confucius Foundation Classic Transmission Special Fund Management Committee; Haborn International Club; and the International Exchange Center for Poetry of Li Bai. Academic support was provided by the Li Keran Painting Academy. Co-organizers included the Gujing Group, Shanghai Zhenwei Investment Company, Jingxi Group, The Poetry Platform of Listening to the Rain in a Small Building, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Shanghai Alumni Association, Beijing Danqing Painting and Calligraphy Academy, and other institutions.

Address by Christian Wulff, 10th President of the Federal Republic
of Germany and recipient of the 2022 Chinese Government Friendship Award,
delivers a speech at the opening ceremony.

Address by Zhou Hanmin, Standing Committee Member of the CPPCC National Committee

Address by Wu Jian, Vice President of East China Normal University

Address by Bao Yan, Vice President of the Chinese Poetry Society
and General Manager of Rongbaozhai

Address by Hong Yongqing, General Counsel of the Global Federation
of Chambers of Commerce and Director of the Shanghai Office of the Council
for Promoting South-South Cooperation

Address by Zhao Yanchun, Renowned Chinese translator and Dean of the
Academy of Chinese Wisdom and Cultural Mirrors (Hainan University)

Address by Poet Weibai

Launch Ceremony for the International Exhibition Tour
of the World in Poetry (Shanghai)

Launch Ceremony for the International Exhibition Tour of the World
in Poetry (Shanghai)

Dr. Norbert Riedel, German Consul General in Shanghai

Wu Jian, Vice President of East China Normal University

Wang Zhenghua, Co-Chairman of the GASME Sustainable Development
Committee and Chairman of Spring Tour Group

The Opening Ceremony

Exhibition Viewing

Su Xinlan, Host of the Opening Ceremony

Address by Yang Yiming, Advisor and Former Vice President
of the Chinese Poetry Society

Address by Han Chunhong, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the School
of Foreign Languages at East China Normal University

Address by Lu Yiran, Senior Vice Chairman of the GASME Sustainable
Development Committee and President of HICG

Address by Tian Xiaohong, Deputy Secretary General of the Silk Road
International Chamber of Commerce and Chief Representative of the
Shanghai Representative Office