BECE, Vol.13, No.1, 2023 1663 Seeking Understanding and Cooperation in a World of Disputes: New Year Greet- ings from BECE Jijun Yao School of Educational Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210024, Jiangsu, China “If you are depressed, you are living in the past; if you are anxious, you are living in the future; if you are at peace, you are living in the present.” –Lao Tzu OR most of us, the year of 2022 was not a desirable year. The COVID-19 epidemic was still affecting the lives of billions of people. The high transmissibility of the new strains and the concern over long COVID-19 made them less confident in their expectation of completely get- ting rid of the adverse impact of the epidemic. In the meantime, war, famine, natural disasters, and economic downturn were also challenging the coping capacities of human society. All evidence indicates that there remains a mul- titude of issues for mankind to address. To deal with these issues, people from all countries, of all ethnic ori- gins, and with all faiths need to work together. Such extensive cooperation necessitates wider and deeper mutual understanding. Since its establishment, BECE has sought to spread the outcomes of evidence-based research on Chi- nese education and promote communication between Chinese educational re- searchers and their overseas peers. To be frank, it has not been an easy task to carry out this commitment, in the contexts of the regional variances in re- search preferences, paradigms, and orientations as well as the increasing di- vision of the world. © 2023 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed un- der the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. F http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ BECE, Vol.13, No.1, 2023 1664 However, education of all nations shares the same goal of optimizing the growth and development of their children. In light of this, we hold that introducing Chin’s educational achievements to global peers and igniting de- bate and in-depth research in areas of common concern are effective means to enrich global educational research experience and foster deeper under- standing and better cooperation. As a journal specializing in evidence-based research on Chinese education, BECE does not have many counterparts in the world, which means it could encounter extra challenges in its operation due to a lack of reference. Despite the difficulties, we still view the journal as valuable existence, especially when people around the world are seeking to understand China today more comprehensively as a result of its increasing influence. At the end of 2022, China lifted COVID-19 lockdowns and reopened its borders. In the near future, the exchange between China and foreign coun- tries will return to normality. In the New Year, while adhering to the original intention of the journal, that is, to promote evidence-based research on Chi- nese education, the journal will also pay more attention to prompting under- standing and cooperation between global researchers. We sincerely hope that Chinese scholars will publish high-quality research results in this journal as always and welcome all foreign experts with interest in China’s educational issues to present their insights on this platform. China’s educational reform and development can serve as a large “sample”, which has the potential of providing valuable experience, theory, and scientific evidence for the global education development. The publication of this issue coincides with the Chinese Lunar New Year. This year is the Year of the Rabbit in China. Rabbits are peaceful, gen- tle, and smart animals. It is hoped that they will bring peace and happiness to us all. Correspondence to: Jijun Yao Ph.D. School of Educational Science Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210024 Jiangsu China E-mail: E-mail: yaojijun_njnu@163.com Conflict of Interests: None. Doi: 10.15354/bece.23.ed032 mailto:yaojijun_njnu@163.com