How China's initiatives are paving a new path to a better world

BEIJING -- When future historians look back on the once-in-a-century global transformation and trace the underlying logic of evolving international relations, they will surely recognize Sept 1, 2025 as a pivotal moment -- when Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Governance Initiative (GGI).

Prior to this, Beijing had put forward a series of major global initiatives: the Global Development Initiative (GDI) in 2021, the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in 2022, and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) in 2023. Together with the GGI, they constitute a holistic framework for jointly building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Each initiative addresses a fundamental pillar of global cooperation: the GDI seeks to lay the material foundation, the GSI is designed to safeguard stability, the GCI tries to foster shared understanding, and the GGI intends to provide the institutional architecture. As noted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the four global initiatives proposed by China "are totally compatible with the UN Charter." Many countries also view them as pragmatic and constructive solutions to contemporary global challenges.

Yet the world remains fractured amid a rising tide of uncertainty and turbulence. While some advocate dialogue and cooperation, others cling to unilateralism and bloc politics, compounding long-standing crises and creating new risks.

Global development remains fragile, characterized by widening North-South disparities and compounded by overlapping energy and food crises. Around the world, more than 1 billion people continue to live in extreme poverty. Security is deteriorating, with armed conflicts reaching post-war highs, rising displacement, and increased reliance on sanctions and bullying by certain country.

Meanwhile, the discourse of "a clash of civilizations" appears to overshadow exchanges between them, while global governance is eroded by withdrawals from international treaties, practices of decoupling, and the expansion of barriers that undermine fairness and equality, especially for the Global South.

The grim reality underscores the relevance and timeliness of the four global initiatives, further highlighting the need to build international consensus and strengthen solidarity.

A call for shared development

As Xi has noted, development holds the master key to solving all problems. The Global Development Initiative focuses on the shared development needs of humanity, closely aligns with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and directly addresses the real challenges in the field of global development. This initiative contributes Chinese wisdom and solutions to jointly advancing global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth.

Ten years on, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has stalled. Of its 169 specific targets, only about 35 percent are on track, while nearly half are progressing too slowly and 18 percent have regressed.

Globally, development is reversing in key areas. Extreme poverty has risen for the first time in two decades, with the poorest half of humanity holding just 2 percent of global wealth. Some 2.6 billion people still lack internet access, and the funding gap for developing countries to adapt to climate change is continuously widening.

Moreover, wars and conflicts have pushed 140 million people into acute food insecurity, while unilateral sanctions continue to severely impact the livelihoods of billions.