Three initiatives embody the Chinese blueprint for global common good

Published: December 27,2023

By Yang Danzhi

Editor’s note: China’s diplomacy has been in full swing this year after the country resumed exchanges with the world in an orderly manner. Since the start of the year, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been on a tight diplomatic schedule. What is the significance of Xi’s diplomacy? How does it influence the global landscape? Chinese Diplomacy in Action is a five-part series exploring the effectiveness of China’s diplomatic activities in the past year. The second essay is on the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

Watermelon, one of the most common fruits in China, was for a long time unaffordable for people in the Pacific island country (PIC) of Samoa. But with the professional guidance of Chinese experts, Samoan families can now grow their own watermelons and enjoy the sweet and fruity taste of their own labor. Since then, the island nation no longer needs to import watermelons. 

As the second PIC to establish diplomatic relations with China, Samoa is heavily dependent on imports. Food imports cost the country about $100 million. But Samoa has huge potential for agricultural development, with 80 percent of its land still uncultivated. Under joint efforts by the two sides for a decade, the China-Samoa Demonstration Farm has become the largest base among all China-assisted programs in the related area.

A China-aided greenhouse and some cultivation techniques have not only decreased the price of produce, but have also boosted Samoans’ income. For example, the price of watermelons has declined from 20 Samoan tala ($7.45) per kilogram in 2017 to seven tala ($2.6) at the present time. John Maposua, a farmer in a Samoan mountain village, has earned more than 100,000 tala (about $37,270) through greenhouse products.

Agriculture is the pillar industry in Samoa. Over 80 percent of families are engaged in agricultural activities. Therefore, China’s assistance is pivotal for the island country’s development. “Agriculture is the backbone of our country. As a country leader, a farmer and also a businessman, I am very grateful to China’s support to us such as the agriculture cooperation project,” said Leaupepe Taimaaiono Toleafoa Faafisi, Samoa’s Parliament Speaker.

An agricultural technology training course in Apia, Samoa, March 1,2023. /Xinhua

Besides the South Pacific region, China has also provided assistance to various parts of the world within its capacity, bringing tangible benefits to local people and effectively promoting the economic and social development of those countries.

This reflects the openness and inclusiveness of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), which advocates diversified cooperation channels, continuously exploring different methods of South-South cooperation, and working with all parties to create an open and interconnected global development environment.

Apart from development, China emphasizes that security is indispensable and needs to accommodate the legitimate security concerns of all parties. It also opposes any country disregarding the security of other countries, threatening other countries with force, or even using force in the name of its own security.

The international community still faces various security challenges, and it requires extensive international cooperation. China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI), calling for common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, has won widespread support from countries and international organizations around the world.

China is deeply involved in international cooperation in areas such as the fight against terrorism, digital governance, biosecurity, and climate change, and has joined almost all universal intergovernmental international organizations. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has dispatched more than 50,000 personnel on peacekeeping missions over the last three decades, ranking first among the permanent members of the UNSC. As former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin stated, the world’s peaceful development cannot be achieved without China.

Chinese peacekeepers of the engineering contingent of the 26th batch of Chinese peacekeeping mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) conduct construction work in the Kalehe territory of the South Kivu province in DRC, June 7, 2023. /Xinhua

Moreover, the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) was proposed this March. This proposal was made based on the time that we live in. Although Western capitalist economies developed rapidly after the Renaissance, extreme individualism grew drastically in Western society. When Western civilization promotes its values in the form of hegemony, the world needs a new type of relationship between people and society.

For example, through holding a “summit for democracy” or preaching so-called universal values, certain Western countries impose their own values on other countries, advocating the alleged antagonism between democracy and autocracy and the theory of a clash of civilizations, and they aim to build civilizational hegemony. These behaviors, which China firmly opposes, have been one of the factors contributing to regional conflicts around the world.

That’s why the GCI is urgently needed around the world for greater solidarity and collaboration to address common challenges. Aiming to promote mutual respect and harmonious coexistence among different civilizations, the GCI advocates strengthening international people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation, not imposing its own values and models on others, and not engaging in ideological confrontation.

China proposed the GCI not by accident, but based on the deep root of Chinese civilization that spans more than 5,000 years. This initiative shows China’s determination to promote the prosperity of different civilizations, and embodies China’s responsibility as a major country in leading the co-existence and integration of different civilizations.

As Mohsen Fergani, professor of Chinese language at the Ain Shams University in Cairo, said, “all the initiatives proposed by President Xi, are all drawing the correct path for mankind and the international community at different levels.” China’s position and practical actions in promoting GDI, GSI and GCI embodies its commitment to expanding mutually beneficial cooperation, common development and win-win results on a global scale.

The three initiatives, which are in line with the direction of world development, are winning widespread praise and support from the international community. The proposal and practice of the three initiatives will play a greater role in the regional and global governance process.

Yang Danzhi, is an assistant researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

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