China’s vision of a global community of shared futuredraws a new blueprint for a better world

He Yin, People’s Daily

“The vision of a global community of shared future stands on the right side of history and on the side of human progress. It introduces a new approach for international relations, provides new ideas for global governance, opens up new prospects for international exchanges, and draws a new blueprint for a better world.”

The white paper titled “A Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions” recently issued by China’s State Council Information Office provides a profound explanation of the historical background, rich connotations, implementation paths, and vivid practices of building a global community of shared future.

It helps people from all sectors of society and the international community have a more comprehensive understanding of the far-reaching significance of building a global community of shared future. It also provides a clearer understanding of the great goals of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. Furthermore, it consolidates the broad consensus and strong momentum for jointly building a global community of shared future.

The world is undergoing changes on a scale unseen in a century. Various problems old and new and complex issues are converging with and compounding each other. The peace deficit is growing, the development deficit ballooning, and the security deficit glaring.

In March 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping propounded the idea of building a global community of shared future, answering a question raised by the world, by history, and by the times: “What is wrong with this world, what we should do about it.” His proposal lights the path forward as the world fumbles for solutions, and represents China’s contribution to global efforts to protect the shared home and create a better future of prosperity for all.

The vision of building a global community of shared future complies with the prevailing trend of interdependence throughout history, responds to the needs of the times to tackle global challenges, and echoes the popular calls for peace, justice and progress.

Under the personal guidance and promotion of Xi, the building of a global community of shared future has evolved from a vision to action, and grown stronger. It has steadfastly adhered to the viable path amidst changing winds and storms, and has made remarkable achievements in the face of crises and challenges, demonstrating its leadership in shaping the era.

Over the past decade, the vision of building a global community of shared future has become increasingly refined. From state visits to multilateral summits, Xi has systematically expounded on this significant concept on various international occasions, continuously deepening the international community’s understanding of it.

Xi proposed to forge partnerships in which countries treat each other as equals, engage in mutual consultation and show mutual understanding, create a security environment featuring fairness, justice, joint efforts, and shared interests, promote open, innovative and inclusive development that benefits all, increase inter-civilization exchanges to promote harmony, inclusiveness, and respect for differences, and build an ecosystem that puts Mother Nature and green development first. He also emphasized the importance to build an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity.

With its connotations and paths constantly deepened and expanded, the vision of building a global community of shared future has gradually formulated a science-based theoretical system pursuing the five goals for the world and the common values of humanity, with building a new type of international relations as the fundamental path, the Belt and Road Initiative as an important platform, and the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative as a crucial cornerstone.

The vision of building a global community of shared future conforms to the trend of the times and charts the course for improving global governance. It envisions a world characterized by openness and inclusiveness, equity and justice, harmonious coexistence, diversity and mutual learning, and unity and cooperation. It calls for peaceful development rather than conflict and confrontation, common security rather than absolute security, mutual benefit rather than zero-sum games, and exchange and mutual learning rather than a clash of cultures, as well as for green development to protect our planet.

Such a vision rises above the exclusive rules of bloc politics, the notion of might makes right, and the “universal values” defined by a handful of Western countries. It sets a new example for the theory of international relations and serves as a great banner that leads the trend of the times and the direction of human progress.

International dignitaries pointed out that the vision of building a global community of shared future outlines the path to achieve the grand vision of all humanity and charts the course for human development and progress, bringing hope for building a free, just, and beautiful world.

The vision of building a global community of shared future adheres to peace and cooperation, providing an important guideline for achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.

It mirrors the common values shared by all humanity, and reflects the broadest common aspiration of the peoples of all countries in pursuit of peace, development, and stability, and the broadest consensus among countries with different cultural backgrounds and at different stages of development. It has won broad understanding and support from the international community.

The vision has been included in United Nations General Assembly resolutions for six consecutive years and has been repeatedly incorporated into resolutions or declarations of multilateral mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS. From bilateral to multilateral occasions, and from regional to global levels, China has been forging communities with a shared future in different forms with dozens of countries and regions.

In the face of global challenges, all countries in the world are in the same big boat. Whatever they may encounter on their journey ahead, the only right choice is to work together for the benefit of all. Only when all countries work together, only when they align individual interests with the interests of all, and only when they truly build a global community of shared future, can humanity sail towards a better future.