There exists no second path but keeping close international cooperation among governments, businesses and think tanks to pave way for a safe, peaceful and sustainable future to address today's unprecedented global challenges, said guests from home and abroad at an event in Shanghai on Friday.

Major powers of the globe shall assume shared responsibilities for the world's future generations, said the guests at the Shanghai Forum 2025. They called for multilateralism at various levels, including global, regional and sub-regional, in tackling today's complex issues.

"That's why we need collaborations among businesses, intellectuals and academia on a global scale — to find solutions through friendly cooperation like the meeting we're having today," said Kim Won-soo, former under-secretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs of the United Nations.

The forum gathered more than 500 guests and representatives from think tanks, universities, governments, businesses and media organizations hailing from over 50 countries and regions.

With the theme of "Age of Innovation: Technology, Development and Governance", experts were engaged in interdisciplinary, cross-sector and cross-industry dialogues on global challenges — aiming to explore more inclusive and equitable paths for the development of Asia and the world.

Fostering peace goes beyond the absence of conflict, said Kim at the forum hosted by the Shanghai-based Fudan University and the Seoul-based Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, and it requires comprehensive and equitable foundations based on fairness and justice.

"Achieving peace demands global leadership from governments and support from citizens around the world. At this moment, we see a technological divide between the North and the South of the world, and a gap in values between the West and the East. We need to work together to build consensus more than ever," he said.

Rick Waters, former US deputy assistant secretary of state and director of Carnegie China, acknowledged the unprecedented challenges facing the world, pointing out the current fragile mechanisms to address them.

"However, there are still positive aspects. The US and China have not completely decoupled. With many US companies, students, scholars and families still in China, the foundation and cooperation in people-to-people communication still exist," said Waters.

"The two nations should have more flexible communication mechanisms, take responsible actions as responsible major countries, and respond to their respective challenges in a more flexible and pragmatic manner," he said.

Yukio Hatoyama, former prime minister of Japan, said the theme of the event is quite illuminating. "When we try to understand today's world overflowing with uncertainties, keywords such as technology, development and governance are the signposts we rely on," he said.

Lasting through Sunday, the three-day forum will feature 15 sub-forums.

Zhang Yi, executive vice-dean of the Fudan Development Institute, organizer of the forum, which was first established in 2005, said in the current context of geopolitical competition and conflict, universities can play a role in building platforms and calling for cooperation.

"With the independence of thought as a solid foundation, universities are able to help convey China's wisdom and solutions as well as our views and opinions on questioning, and then have an equal dialogue with the other parties," she said.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn