Translated with AI
As historians of the future analyze global transformations unseen in a century and trace the logic of the evolution of international relations, they will likely pay particular attention to the date of September 1, 2025—the turning point when Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Global Governance Initiative.
Beijing has already launched a number of major global initiatives: the Global Development Initiative in 2021, the Global Security Initiative in 2022, and the Global Civilization Initiative in 2023. Together with the Global Governance Initiative, they form a comprehensive framework for jointly building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Amidst a growing wave of uncertainty and turbulence, today's world remains divided. While some advocate dialogue and cooperation, others stubbornly cling to unilateralism and bloc politics, exacerbating long-standing crises and creating new risks.
Discourses of a "clash of civilizations" obscure intercivilizational exchanges, and global governance is eroded by states withdrawing from international treaties, breaking ties, and expanding barriers, undermining justice and equality, particularly for countries in the Global South.
This grim reality underscores the relevance and timeliness of the four global initiatives, pointing to the need to build international consensus and strengthen solidarity.
May 13, 2019, Beijing. The China National Convention Center, the venue for the 2019 Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, is on display. /Photo: Xinhua/
A CALL FOR JOINT DEVELOPMENT
As Xi Jinping has repeatedly noted, development is the universal key to solving all problems. The Global Development Initiative focuses on humanity's shared development needs, is closely aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and aims to directly address real global development challenges. This initiative brings Chinese wisdom and solutions to the joint advancement of global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated, and inclusive growth.
Today, ten years later, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has stalled. Of its 169 specific targets, only about 35 percent are on track, nearly half are being implemented too slowly, and 18 percent are showing regression.
These alarming facts expose fundamental flaws in global development. Some developed countries prioritize geopolitical interests over cooperation, exploiting development resources through sanctions, severing ties, and cutting aid. In doing so, they betray the universal consensus that development is an inalienable human right.
Launched at such a crucial moment, the Global Development Initiative has received widespread approval from the global community for its rejection of the outdated paradigm in which large powers dominate and small states are forced to depend on them. The initiative promotes collective action from an equitable and systems-based perspective, ensuring that every participant benefits from development.
As a country actively promoting the BRICS development initiative, China has consistently adhered to the "Six Principles" and relied on platforms such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the South-South Cooperation Fund for Global Development, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the New Development Bank to expand the scope of BRICS international development cooperation.
China-Africa Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centers are implementing the "teach a man how to fish, not give him a fish" model on the African continent, which increases local crop yields by an average of 30-60 percent. To date, the centers have helped over a million farmers in Africa, becoming a practical embodiment of the concept of priority development.
The China-Laos Railway has transformed landlocked Laos into a land route hub, reducing logistics costs by more than 30 percent and creating over 100,000 jobs.
Beyond providing a powerful impetus to the 2030 Agenda, the Global Development Initiative fundamentally reshapes and redefines global development concepts. Its theoretical breakthrough lies in liberating ourselves from dependence on traditional Western development models, prioritizing the common interests of humanity, and laying a solid foundation for building a community of shared destiny.
To ensure that the benefits of development can be shared equally by as many people as possible around the world, countries must go beyond their own narrow interests, follow the historical trend, advocate for common development, uphold fairness and justice, and devote themselves entirely to mutually beneficial cooperation.
Medical supplies donated to Myanmar after the earthquake are loaded at the Manshi International Airport in Manshi, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, April 1, 2019. /Photo: Xinhua/
A NEW PATH TO LASTING PEACE AND SECURITY
Today, the world is experiencing the most profound upheavals and transformations since the end of the Cold War. Amid a growing deficit of peace and security, global security governance faces serious challenges. The international community urgently needs security concepts and approaches that reflect the spirit of the times.
The Global Security Initiative was launched as a response to the current situation. It responds to the changing international landscape, builds on the concept of unity, and addresses security challenges through a win-win approach. This initiative aims to address the root causes of international conflicts and improve global security governance.
As Xi Jinping noted, the Cold War mentality only undermines the framework of global peace, hegemonism and politics only threaten global peace, and bloc confrontation only exacerbates security challenges in the 21st century. This important observation allows us to fully understand the root causes of the complex global security situation.
The Global Security Initiative is based on the "six commitments": a commitment to the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security; respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; taking seriously the legitimate security concerns of all countries; peacefully resolving differences and disputes among countries through dialogue and consultation; and ensuring security in both traditional and non-traditional spheres.
In the traditional security sphere, China actively promotes political settlements in hotspot areas and is the largest contributor of peacekeeping personnel among all permanent members of the UN Security Council.
In non-traditional security areas, China participates in multilateral cooperation on counterterrorism, drug trafficking, and public health security, often leading such efforts. China also implements numerous humanitarian aid programs aimed at addressing emerging global threats through cooperation.
In the context of regional security cooperation, China uses platforms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia to continuously contribute to regional stability.
Committed to building a more balanced, effective, and sustainable security architecture, China, along with other countries, is pursuing a new security path based on dialogue rather than confrontation, partnership rather than alliances, and win-win cooperation rather than zero-sum games.
June 11, Beijing. Headquarters of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. /Photo: Xinhua/
RECOGNITION OF THE DIVERSITY OF CIVILIZATIONS
"The world we live in is diverse and colorful. Diversity makes human civilization what it is and serves as a constant source of vitality and driving force for global development," Xi Jinping said. This important statement provides guidance in answering questions about how different civilizations should coexist and where human civilization is heading.
The global civilization initiative can be summarized in four general principles: respect for the diversity of civilizations, upholding universal human values, commitment to both preserving heritage and promoting innovation, and strengthening international exchanges and cooperation in the humanitarian sphere.
Confronting misconceptions and prejudices, this initiative promotes equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and understanding among civilizations. It opposes cultural arrogance and seeks to create platforms for equal dialogue, enabling different civilizations to deepen mutual understanding and develop through mutual exchanges and learning.
China deeply respects the diversity of civilizations and advocates deeper and more meaningful exchanges between civilizations.
China has been expanding dialogue on governance and development issues through mechanisms such as the High-Level Dialogue between the CPC and World Political Parties, the High-Level Dialogue on Global Development, the China-EU Human Rights Dialogue, and the China-Latin America Human Rights Roundtable.
China has signed cooperation agreements with over 100 countries in areas such as culture, cultural heritage, and tourism. China is also developing cooperation in joint archaeological research, World Heritage protection, and the mutual translation of classical works, not only preserving its cultural roots but also contributing to the preservation of the common heritage of humanity.
In a world increasingly interconnected, coexistence, exchange, and mutual learning among civilizations are vital to advancing global modernization and enriching the rich palette of world civilization. The Global Civilization Initiative offers countries a framework for pursuing modernization based on their own traditions while remaining open to the shared wisdom of humanity.
May 30, Hong Kong. The International Mediation Organization building. /Photo: Xinhua/
A BOLD EXPERIMENT IN IMPROVING GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Some countries remain wedded to the outdated belief that "might makes right."
New challenges such as deep-sea exploration, commercial exploitation of polar shipping routes, determination of space resource rights and transboundary data flows are emerging rapidly, yet relevant international rules remain largely absent or fragmented.
Moreover, some countries circumvent multilateral mechanisms or exert pressure on them by withdrawing from them and imposing sanctions, further fragmenting global governance.
"Countries of the world are like passengers on a single ship, sharing a common destiny. For the ship to weather the storm and sail toward a bright future, all passengers must work together. The idea of throwing anyone overboard is simply unacceptable," Xi Jinping once remarked.
With this powerful metaphor, he emphasized the importance of the concept of a community with a shared destiny for humanity, outlining a course for improving the system of global governance and promoting the common development of humanity.
The Global Governance Initiative seeks to address the governance deficit. It calls for sovereign equality, directly addresses the shortcomings of a system in which "a few countries run everything," and asserts that the fate of the world should be determined collectively by all nations.
The initiative calls for respect for the rule of international law and emphasizes that international rules should be developed jointly by the entire international community, rather than monopolized by a few states.
The initiative advocates for the need to adopt rules that evolve over time, taking into account the different stages of development of countries and their legitimate interests.
The initiative calls for the practical implementation of multilateralism through adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, strengthening the central role of multilateral mechanisms, countering bloc politics and confrontation between camps, and building a more coordinated and effective system of global governance.
The initiative promotes a human-centered approach, emphasizing that the ultimate goal of global governance is to improve the well-being of all peoples.
