Come Together to Face Challenges of Our Era

Four years ago, at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, and the opening ceremony of the 2017 World Economic Forum, President Xi Jinping delivered speeches titled “Work Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind” and “Jointly Shoulder Responsibility of Our Times, Promote Global Growth”, which provided answers to “what has happened to the world, and how should we respond?”, and put forward Chinese proposals of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Throughout the years, our leaders have been thinking deeply about improving global governance. Today, building a community with a shared future is not only China’s vision but also an international solution that has been written into many United Nations resolutions and documents and recognized by more and more international organizations. From theories to actions, Chinese proposals have become the theoretical foundation and action plan shared by the whole world.

i.Improve the governance framework of economic globalization

In recent years, economic globalization met multiple challenges. Since the coronavirus outbreak, de-globalization has gained traction, protectionism and unilateralism are staging a comeback, and development gaps keep enlarging. The international financial system lags far behind, and global financial markets are turbulent. The international economic system has encountered unprecedented challenges, and there is an urgent need for global leaders to work together on governance plans.

How to solve the problems arising in the process of economic globalization? President Xi proposed that we should promote more inclusive global governance, more effective multilateral mechanisms, and more active regional cooperation. China has always advocated a rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open, and inclusive multilateral trading system, supported the reform of the World Trade Organization, and enhancing its effectiveness and authority. China has also promoted free trade, opposed unilateralism and protectionism, maintained fair competition, and protected the development rights and room of developing countries.

China’s foreign policies confront the challenges of economic globalization and push it to become more open, inclusive, balanced, and mutually beneficial. China has successfully hosted two sessions of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to build more new platforms for international trade and investment.

China will always participate in global free trade and investment. China has strived to accelerate the Doha Round negotiations and submitted more than 100 proposals; China has held China International Export Expo three times and will further open its markets; China has signed RCEP and will consider joining the CPTPP, and building a broader and higher-level FTAAP; China and the EU have completed the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment negotiations on schedule, setting a new benchmark for global investment opening and expanding market access.

ii.Take the lead to build a global community of health for all

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the urgency of strengthening global governance. President Xi Jinping emphasized that virus knows no borders and races. Only by uniting together can the international community overcome the pandemic and protect our homeland. Chinese leaders promote the international community to work together to prevent and respond to global pandemic and build a community of human health.

In the face of the pandemic, President Xi Jinping, putting the health and safety of our people before everything else, has personally taken charge and planned our response and rallied the Chinese people to control the disease, and at the same time provided supplies to other countries. President Xi communicated with leaders of other countries, introduced China’s experience and shared China’s latest research results. China established an online center to share our knowledge about the virus, published our plans for virus prevention and control. China initiated the largest international humanitarian aid program, sending 36 medical expert teams to 34 countries, and providing emergency assistance to 150 countries.

China realizes that global public health governance is a systematic project, and while responding to the crisis, we also should focus on the establishment of long-term mechanisms, so that all countries can better utilize the global public health system and improve the ability of international coordination. China actively participated in the G20 multilateral mechanism to enhance international consensus and promote comprehensive and systematic prevention and control guidelines. China also invested in vaccine research and development, in which scientists from all over the world have put incredible efforts, and strived to make the vaccines available to the people of all countries.

iii.Proposing a Global Initiative on Data Security

The move to digitalize propels a new wave of globalization and has become an important driving force for global economic growth. However, new challenges have emerged from digital globalization. Regional protectionism, governance deficit, and geopolitics disrupted international cooperation in the field of information and communication. Global digital governance is under pressure. Therefore, we must establish universal principles to ease the pressures in global digital governance.

To this end, President Xi emphasized that it is necessary to uphold a people-oriented and fact-based policy, encourage innovation, promote mutual trust, support the United Nations to play a leading role in this regard, and work together to build an open, just, equal, and non-discriminatory digital development environment. China is committed to propose initiatives on data security and respond to various risks and challenges.

China’s Global Initiative on Data Security focuses on infrastructure and personal information protection, corporate overseas data storage and retrieval, and supply chain security. The initiative also emphasized that all parties should strengthen communication on the basis of mutual respect, and jointly promote the development of global digital technology and digital society. This is the first international initiative in the field of data security. More and more countries are committed to working with China to advance digital governance and build a global digital community of shared future.

iv.Joining hands to promote internationa poverty alleviation

Four years ago, at the 2017 World Economic Forum, President Xi called on the international community to attach importance to more than 700 million people living in extreme poverty, and emphasized that we should jointly address the challenges brought by uneven development. He pointed out in 2015 that eliminating poverty has been the dream of mankind since ancient times, and it is the basic rights of people of all countries to pursue a happy life. In 2020, China lifted all counties out of poverty and achieved the poverty reduction goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

Internationally, China has fully implemented poverty alleviation projects and enhanced integration of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the “Belt and Road” Initiative. According to the World Bank, China’s “Belt and Road” Initiative has lifted 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty in B&R countries. In addition, China has actively participated in international forums and meetings to help developing countries overcome development bottlenecks.

The pandemic posed a challenge to international poverty reduction. At this critical time, China highlights the impact of the pandemic on developing countries, and states that the international community should help these countries stabilize their economies and achieve the goals on schedule. This shows China’s traditional morals of helping those in distress and aid those in peril.

v.Refining the global climate governance system

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic makes us reflect on the relationship between humans and nature, which further highlights the importance and urgency of global climate governance. President Xi pointed out that harming nature will eventually harm mankind. China develops a green and low-carbon economy in an all-round way, and at the same time, leads international cooperation on climate change.

In his speech at the General Debate of the 75th UN General Assembly, President Xi stated that China will make more contribution and implement forceful policies and measures, striving to reach the peak of carbon dioxide emission by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. China promised that by 2030, China’s carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by more than 65% compared to 2005; non-fossil energy will account for about 25% of primary energy consumption; forest stock will increase by 6 billion cubic meters over 2005; and the total capacity of wind power and solar power will reach over 1.2 billion kilowatts. China’s commitment shows its ambition to make more contributions to the global response to climate change.

China has stepped up international cooperation on climate change and actively promoted consensus and build a clean and green world. China is doing its best to draw attention on climate change and advance multilateral cooperation.

Contributed by Liu Qing

Translated by Ren Meiqi