The third Understanding China conference will be held in Beijing from Dec 16 to 18, Li Junru, executive vice-chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy said on Tuesday.

The conference will be co-hosted by the institute, the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Beijing Municipal Government, and the 21st Century Council of the Berggruen Institute, Li told a news briefing in Beijing.

With the theme of China's new growth drivers and new opportunities for global cooperation, the conference will see participants from China and around the world engage in in-depth discussions and exchange of ideas on topics such as the redoubling of reform and opening-up efforts, pursuing socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, and building a community of shared future for mankind, he said.

More than 40 international participants from political, academic and business circles in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and G20 countries have confirmed their attendance, he said.

They include former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo, former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen, former Greek prime minister George Papandreou, former Hungarian prime minister Gordon Bajnai, former Pakistani prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former British prime minister Gordon Brown, Harvard University political scientist Professor Graham Allison, and Snapchat co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel, Li said.

"The conference hopes to convey a message that China keeps steadfastly to further reform and opening-up and will stay staunchly on the path of peaceful rise," he said. "It is an unshakable historical choice and one of the most powerful drivers for China and the world to work together to build a community with shared future for mankind."

The first and second Understanding China conferences were held in Beijing in 2013 and 2015.