Building a community with a shared future for mankind becomes shining banner driving progress of the times: Wang Yi

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi looked back on the momentous diplomatic journey over the past year, noting that major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics has entered a new stage where much more can be accomplished.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), pointed out that China’s influence, appeal, and power to shape as a responsible and constructive major country have reached new heights.

According to Wang, the important vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind has not only taken China’s diplomacy forward in great strides, but increasingly won the hearts and minds of the international community.

It has become a shining banner driving the progress of the times, and demonstrated the great power of ideas to influence the course of world history, he said.

Following is the highlight of Wang Yi's signed article titled "Holding High the Banner of Building a Community with a Shared Future For Mankind and Striving for Greater Achievements In Major-Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics" on Qiushi Journal, No. 02, 2025.

Standing at the forefront of the times, a community with a shared future for mankind is of great contemporary value. The current international situation is fraught with turbulence. Global challenges emerge one after another. Human society once again stands at a historical crossroads. Faced with rising geopolitical conflict, unilateral action and protectionism, and increasing traditional and nontraditional security threats, it is imperative that countries take collective action. General Secretary Xi Jinping has clearly pointed out that there is only one Earth in the universe and we mankind have only one home. Countries are not riding separately in some 190 small boats, but are rather all in a giant ship on which our shared destiny hinges. In the face of risks and challenges, no country can remain unscathed. Solidarity, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness are the right path for humanity. Countries should see each other’s development as opportunities rather than challenges, and treat each other as partners rather than rivals. Global solidarity, cooperation and mutual benefit should become the main theme of the times. As changes unseen in a century accelerate across the world, it is all the more important that countries rise above estrangement and conflict with a broad vision, and care for the future of humanity with great passion. Together, we should practice friendship and cooperation, promote mutual learning among cultures, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, in order to jointly create a better future for the world.

Advancing with the times, a community with a shared future for mankind has become a better-established scientific system. In 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind for the first time at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In 2015, during the General Debate of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, he clarified the pathway for realizing a community with a shared future for mankind. In 2017, in his speech at the United Nations Office at Geneva, he put forward the goal of building an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity. By systematically expounding this important vision at various international occasions, he took global understanding of this vision to deeper levels. At the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs in 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping defined the pillars of building a community with a shared future for mankind as a scientific system: The goal is to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity; the pathway is promoting global governance that features extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit; the guiding principle is to apply the common values of humanity; the basic underpinning lies in building a new type of international relations; the strategic guidance comes from the implementation of the GDI, the GSI and the GCI; and the platform for action is high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. On this basis, we seek to bring countries together to meet challenges and achieve prosperity for all. The abovementioned important statements not only constitute the top-level design of China’s diplomatic strategy on the new journey, but also point the way toward a bright future of peace, security, prosperity and progress for our world.

Pooling global consensus, a community with a shared future for mankind is being practiced in wider areas at a faster pace. Building a community with a shared future for mankind has developed from a Chinese initiative to an international consensus, and from a promising vision to substantive actions. It is driving positive and profound changes in the world today. At the bilateral level, the building of a community with a shared future began with China’s neighboring countries and gradually expanded to the world. To date, dozens of countries have issued action plans or joint statements, or reached important common understandings with China on building communities with a shared future at the bilateral level. Together they have strengthened the progressive trend of building a new type of international relations. At the regional level, the building of a community with a shared future has covered regions where developing countries concentrate, such as the Indochina Peninsula, Central Asia, ASEAN, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Arab countries, and Pacific Island countries, and cooperation mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This has provided strong momentum for regional cooperation. At the global level, multilateral cooperation has steadily advanced in building a global community of health for all, a community of shared future in cyberspace, a community of life for man and nature, a global community of development, and a global community of security for all. These efforts have fostered strong international synergy in meeting challenges and creating a better future together.

Integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and fine traditional culture, a community with a shared future for mankind has its distinct theoretical property. The concept is an important reflection of the original aspiration and founding mission of the CPC. It fully demonstrates that the CPC is a party dedicated to pursuing happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, as well as a party committed to promoting human progress and world harmony. It highlights the inherent internationalist spirit and global vision of the world’s largest Marxist governing party. The concept represents an inheritance and innovation of China’s fine traditional culture. It endows traditional ideas such as “universal harmony” and “harmonious coexistence among nations” with contemporary significance, exemplifying the peaceful, inclusive and innovative nature of Chinese civilization and shining with the brilliance of progress and wisdom. The concept is a continuation and elevation of the fine traditions of New China’s diplomacy. It is both in line with and evolving from the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, showcasing distinct Chinese characteristics, style and ethos in our diplomacy in the new era. The concept is also a sublation and transcendence of old international relations theories. It transcends differences in social systems and ideologies, embraces variations in history, culture and development stage, and provides a fundamental path for humanity to address global challenges, thus opening up a new horizon for the evolution of international relations in the 21st century.