A delegation led by Ma Yinglin, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), attended an international seminar via video link to discuss ways to build a peaceful community in Northeast Asia on Jan 20.

The delegation also included La Can, secretary-general of the China Committee on Religion and Peace (CCRP), and CCRP members such as Ran Jiao, Yang Huiying and Xu Yihua. 

Other attendees of the meeting included those from the Korean Conference of Religions for Peace (KCRP) and Religions for Peace (RfP) Japan.

Ma, also vice-chairman of the CCRP and president of the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China , said religious leaders from Japan, China, and South Korea have made active efforts for regional development and people's happy life, as the annual seminar has been held for 10 years.

In outlining the challenges world peace faces today, Ma said religious leaders have an obligation to set an example, to lead more religious believers to act righteously, and to promote the universal values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom. He also called for efforts to be builders of peace and development, practitioners of solidarity and mutual assistance, and promoters of dialogue and exchanges.

The seminar included three panel discussions in China, Japan and South Korea, focusing on the themes of religious harmony and regional peace, the role of religion in modern society, and the COVID-19 pandemic and the environment respectively. The Chinese delegation introduced the progress made by the Chinese religious community in maintaining regional peace, promoting harmony between human beings and nature, and developing religions in a Chinese context.