Diplomacy in focus amid global challenges

With the two sessions, China's biggest annual political event, set to start on Tuesday, global attention will be riveted on the country's diplomatic maneuvers amid an increasingly divided world and mounting economic and security challenges globally.

Acting as a window for the world to observe China's policy direction, governance model and long-term vision, the sessions of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, gather thousands of lawmakers and political advisers to chart the nation's future course of action for its all-around development.

While the world anticipates this year's agenda, discussions are already heating up on key issues such as China's economic trajectory and the fine-tuning of its diplomacy to adapt to the rapid evolution of the international environment.

Amid growing instability and uncertainty in the world, the expectations are high for China, the world's second-largest economy and a major country, to play its role as an anchor of stability and growth to promote global peace, security and cooperation.

Addressing the 61st Munich Security Conference on Feb 14, Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for building an equal and orderly multipolar world, saying that China will definitely be a factor of certainty in this multipolar system and strive to be a steadfast constructive force in a changing world.

Azhar Azam, a current affairs commentator and geopolitical affairs analyst, said that Wang's remarks reiterated China's commitment to promoting a multipolar world and offered valuable insights into how common challenges should be tackled.

China's intention is to develop broad international cooperation and combat real challenges, such as conflicts, economic regression and climate change, that threaten international stability and the very existence of mankind, Azam added.

The Global Cooperation Barometer 2025, jointly released by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Co in January, said that political and geopolitical turmoil has seriously affected the models of multilateral cooperation, with international cooperation having essentially flatlined.

Warwick Powell, an adjunct professor at Queensland University of Technology and a senior fellow at Beijing Taihe Institute, said that in contrast with the United States, which advocates unilateralism and a zero-sum game, China's idea of multipolarity does not revolve around "great power rivalry", but rather emphasizes the need to curate shared commitments to collective security and other common interests.

Observers said that China underscores true multilateralism and rallies Global South nations in improving the global governance system with the United Nations at the center, and its foreign policy on dealing with major countries, especially the US, will be among the highlights that will attract international attention.

Xin Ping, a Beijing-based international affairs commentator, said there have been widely shared concerns among Chinese people and in China's academic circles that the new US administration could adopt a more wide-ranging containment strategy against China.

China has gained substantial experience in navigating its relations with the US through difficult times, and it will continue to navigate China-US ties with resilience and confidence, as it did before, Xin said.

China and the US could be partners in addressing common global challenges such as artificial intelligence, Xin said, adding that it is important to rise above bilateral issues and focus on broader shared goals for mankind, ultimately working together toward a better future.

Since the start of the year, President Xi Jinping has held a series of head-of-state diplomacy activities, setting the tone for the country's diplomatic efforts. These included a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, a video meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a phone conversation with European Council President Antonio Costa.

Amid severe global challenges related to peace, development, security and governance, the major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, led by Xi, is demonstrating China's increasingly distinctive role as a key supporter of global peace and development, analysts said.