By He Yin, China is not only advocating but also acting on the vision of building a global community of shared future.
Over the past decade, from promoting high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to proposing and implementing the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI), and Global Civilization Initiative(GCI), China, with firm beliefs and solid actions, has worked with all relevant parties to consolidate greater efforts for lasting peace, create a favorable environment for common security, inject stronger confidence into common development, provide important impetus for cultural exchanges, and take more actions for ecological protection. China has continuously contributed to the building of a global community of shared futures.
The BRI is a vivid example of building a global community of shared futures, a public good, and a cooperation platform provided by China and welcomed by the international community.
By July 2023, more than three-quarters of countries in the world and over 30 international organizations had signed agreements on Belt and Road cooperation with China.
Over the past decade, China has laid the groundwork and set up the frameworks of BRI cooperation, delivering tangible results and achieving sustainable progress. Together, participants in the initiative have jointly advanced “hard connectivity” of infrastructure, “soft connectivity” of rules and standards, and “people-to-people connectivity” among partner countries. This has effectively promoted the development of participating countries, constantly giving local people of BRI countries a stronger sense of fulfillment and happiness.
Flagship projects of the BRI, such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the China-Laos Railway, the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, and the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, have lent strong impetus to local economic and social development. The China-Europe freight trains have made 77,000 trips in the past ten years, carrying 7.31 million twenty-foot equivalent units and becoming an important bridge for international economic and trade cooperation. Luban workshops have helped young people in more than 20 Belt and Road countries acquire vocational skills. The BRI aims to help China and the rest of the world share opportunities and seek common development.
The development serves as the material foundation for security and civilization. Through the GDI, China has made its contribution to resolving challenges to development and advancing global development.
The fundamental aim of the initiative is to accelerate the implementation of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its core requirement is a people-centered approach, its foremost philosophy is united, equal, balanced, and inclusive global development partnerships, and its pivotal measure entails results-oriented actions to bolster stronger, greener, and healthier global development and jointly build a global community of development.
China has hosted the High-level Dialogue on Global Development and presented 32 important measures to implement the initiative. So far, half of these measures have been implemented or achieved early fruits. The library of the GDI projects is expanding, with over 200 projects achieving good results.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed noted that strengthening cooperation within the framework of the GDI is key to achieving the common objectives for people and the planet.
Security acts as the fundamental prerequisite for development and civilization. Through the GSI, China has boosted confidence in maintaining and realizing common security and universal security.
The initiative calls for adapting to profound changes in the international landscape through solidarity, addressing traditional and non-traditional security risks and challenges with a win-win mindset, and creating a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance, and win-win over zero-sum.
Over the past three decades and more, China has sent more than 50,000 personnel to UN peacekeeping operations in over 20 countries and regions. China has been calling for the resolution of conflicts and working tirelessly to promote peace. It has facilitated the restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and has been actively involved in resolving international and regional hotspot issues. China is actively committed to international cooperation in various fields, including counter-terrorism, public health, digital governance, bio-security, and climate change.
China’s actions fully demonstrate its role as a responsible major country in safeguarding world peace and stability. International personages pointed out that the GSI fills the void of a viable global security architecture, and China’s successful implementation of this initiative fully proves that China is a defender of global peace and security.
Civilization provides the cultural-ethical support for development and security. Through the GCI, China has injected impetus into promoting mutual learning and building an open and inclusive world.
The initiative calls for jointly advocating respect for the diversity of civilizations, jointly advocating the common values of humanity, jointly advocating the importance of inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and jointly advocating robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation. It makes a sincere call for the world to enhance inter-civilization exchanges and dialogue and promote human progress with inclusiveness and mutual learning.
China has hosted gatherings including the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting, the CPC and World Political Parties Summit, and the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations. It has promoted diverse forms of civil diplomacy, city diplomacy, and public diplomacy. It has also celebrated splendid cultural and tourist “years” and festivals.
China actively promotes the establishment of a global network for dialogue and cooperation between civilizations, strengthens international cultural exchanges and cooperation, and promotes mutual understanding and friendship among peoples of all countries, offering cultural-ethical support for the building of a global community of shared future.
The future of humanity is bright, but it will not come without effort. To build a global community of shared future, confidence and determination are of foremost importance; a broad mind and a global vision are central; a sense of responsibility and a will to act hold the key.
China will continue to work with all parties, hold high the banner of building a global community of a shared future, and build an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity.
