Xiplomacy: Xi offers new proposals on building better future amid pressing challenges

BEIJING - With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the global economy struggling, the international landscape is undergoing profound changes, and humanity has now reached a new crossroad.

"It falls on each and every responsible statesman to answer the questions of our times and make a historical choice with confidence, courage and a sense of mission," said Chinese President Xi Jinping at the general debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) delivered via video on Sept 21.

As the leader of the world's largest developing country and second-largest economy, Xi has over the last month put forward a series of new proposals on how the world should overcome difficulties and build a better future together.

Responsibility as a major country

"China is always a builder of world peace, contributor to global development, defender of the international order and provider of public goods," said Xi in the UNGA statement.

The addition of the fourth dimension to China's global role comes as the country is providing the world with more public goods. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi, has become the most popular public good in the world, and China has been championing efforts to make COVID-19 vaccines a global public good.

On the globally significant China-US ties, Xi said that whether the two countries can handle their relationship well is a question of the century to which they must provide a good answer.

Getting the relationship right is not optional, but something we must do and must do well, Xi said in a phone conversation with his US counterpart, Joseph R. Biden, on Sept 10.

Noting that in all countries, people long for peace and development more than ever before, their call for equity and justice is growing stronger, and they are more determined in pursuing win-win cooperation, Xi pointed out that practicing true multilateralism is the need of the times.

On various multilateral platforms, including the United Nations, BRICS, the Eastern Economic Forum and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Xi's consistent call for true multilateralism has charted a course for improving global governance.

"I am convinced that the trend of peace, development and advancement for humanity is irresistible," Xi said.

Global cooperation on development

Development holds the key to people's well-being and is a permanent pursuit of humankind.

At the current critical juncture in global development, Xi, in his UNGA statement, proposed a Global Development Initiative, which has outlined a blueprint for global development and cooperation.

The initiative calls for staying committed to development as a priority, to a people-centered approach, to benefits for all, to innovation-driven development, to harmony between man and nature and to results-oriented actions.

From the Juncao technology that is benefiting more and more foreign communities, to the successful hosting of international trade fairs, and to the steady progress in Belt and Road cooperation, China's development-oriented solutions to global challenges have been bearing rich fruit.

On achieving sustainable development and harmony between man and nature, Xi announced that China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.

Delivering a speech at the 13th BRICS summit via video link on Sept 9, Xi called on BRICS countries to "further enhance the quality of practical cooperation," and made five proposals on how to do that.

China will take over the chair of BRICS and host the 14th BRICS summit next year. Countries around the world are looking forward to hearing more voices from China.

Shared future for mankind

Xi has long been calling for the building of a community with a shared future, and the vision has been further enriched over the past month.

Addressing the 21st Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO via video link on Sept 17, Xi put forward five proposals on building "a closer SCO community with a shared future."

Since the landmark SCO Qingdao Summit in 2018, Xi has gradually fleshed out his vision on SCO cooperation, inspiring the group to grow into a model in the building of a new type of international relations and a contributor to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

On China-Latin America ties, Xi said in a video speech delivered on Sept 18 to the 6th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that China-Latin America relations have entered a new era featuring equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and tangible benefits for the people.

China, he said, is willing to work with Latin American and Caribbean countries to overcome difficulties together and jointly create opportunities to build a community of shared future between China and Latin America.

In his UNGA statement, Xi also called for building "a global community of development with a shared future," urging the international community to increase input in development, advance on a priority basis cooperation on poverty alleviation, food security, COVID-19 response and vaccines, development financing, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy and connectivity, among other areas, and accelerate implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"Let us bolster confidence and jointly address global threats and challenges, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind and a better world for all," Xi said.