Building a Global Community of Shared Future and Striving for Greater Achievements in Major-Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics

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Building a global community of shared future is a major original concept put forward by President Xi Jinping. As a core tenet of Xi Jinping thought on diplomacy, this vision represents China’s response to the defining question of our times: What kind of world we should build, and how we should build it. In December 2023, the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs defined this vision as the main focus of China’s diplomatic endeavors, thus setting forth a noble goal for China to pursue its major-country diplomacy. Over the past year, amid great transformation and turbulence in the world, we in the diplomatic service have followed the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Xi Jinping at its core and the sound guidance of Xi Jinping thought on diplomacy. We have upheld fundamental principles while breaking new ground and acted with composure and confidence to foster a good external environment for China’s high-quality development, bring much-needed stability to a turbulent world, and make solid new strides in building a global community of shared future.

Impressive achievements in head-of-state diplomacy: strategic guidance for building a global community of shared future

As President Xi Jinping has noted, “Dreams and wishes may be far, but they can be fulfilled with dedicated pursuit.” Building a global community of shared future is a historical process that requires much hard work over the long term. Over the past year, President Xi has demonstrated leadership by personally engaging in a wide range of head-of-state diplomatic events, thereby charting the course forward for building a global community of shared future. 

President Xi participated in three major diplomatic events hosted by China. At the Conference Marking the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, he explored in depth the historical progression from peaceful coexistence to a shared future. At the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), he laid out a fresh blueprint for comprehensively enhancing China-Africa cooperation. At the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, he advanced China-Arab cooperation to new heights in the new era.

The logo of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation near the China National Convention Center, Beijing, August 29, 2024. As China’s largest and highest-level diplomatic event of the year, the summit, held from September 4 to 6, represented a major outreach to Africa and developing countries against a backdrop of accelerating once-in-a-century changes across the world. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER REN CHAO

President Xi also conducted four significant overseas visits. His European trip helped foster trust, address misunderstandings, and enhance cooperation, thereby opening the way for a bright future in China-Europe relations. On his visit to Central Asia, he carried forward the Shanghai Spirit and took steps to deepen good-neighborly relations. Attending the BRICS Summit, he helped advance the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation and strengthen solidarity among the Global South. His Latin American trip marked the launch of a new phase in Asia-Pacific cooperation and brought renewed focus on global governance reform. 

President Xi has shown the global vision, broad mindset, and concern for humanity befitting the leader of a major political party and major country. He has engaged in in-depth strategic communications with world leaders and worked to strengthen friendly relations with the people of all countries. He has talked in-depth about the logic of peaceful development, the path of mutually beneficial cooperation, and the principle of global solidarity. These endeavors have provided a boost to the forces for peace, stability, and progress in a turbulent and changing world. 

All-around diplomacy: a solid underpinning for building a global community of shared future

President Xi Jinping has stated that China is ready to work with other countries to build a global community of shared future, develop partnerships across the world, and enhance friendship and cooperation, so as to forge a new path for state-to-state relations based on mutual respect, fairness, justice, and mutual benefit, and ultimately create a more peaceful and tranquil world and make life better and more fulfilling for all. Over the past year, we have continued to advance our global partnerships through dialogue and inclusiveness rather than confrontation and exclusion. We have improved our comprehensive framework for multitiered, wide-ranging, and multifaceted diplomatic engagement and strived to expand converging interests with countries around the world to achieve the greatest synergy possible. 

We have ensured overall stability in our relations with other major countries. President Xi met with Russian President Putin on three occasions to continue deepening the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. Through in-depth exchanges with the leaders of various European countries, President Xi has promoted the sound and stable development of China-Europe relations. He also met with the then US President Biden and sent a congratulatory message to the newly elected President Trump, providing strategic guidance for China-US relations at critical junctures. 

We have worked with neighboring countries to create a peaceful, tranquil, prosperous, beautiful, amicable, and harmonious home in Asia. The China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained strong momentum. China has upgraded comprehensive strategic cooperation with the five Central Asian countries. The leaders of China and India reached an agreement on returning bilateral relations to the path of stable development. Additionally, China and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the China-Japan strategic relationship of mutual benefit in an all-around way. 

We have rallied a powerful force for the Global South to seek strength through unity. President Xi Jinping called for more open and inclusive Global South cooperation and announced eight measures in support of Global South cooperation. He reached a consensus with other leaders on bringing more partners into the BRICS family to make it a primary channel for promoting solidarity and cooperation among Global South nations. China joined with African nations in adopting the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era and the Beijing Action Plan (2025–2027) of FOCAC. It established five cooperation frameworks with Arab states, achieved further alignment of development strategies with Latin American and Caribbean countries, and pursued more extensive cooperation with Pacific Island nations. These endeavors have helped empower the development of the Global South across all dimensions.

The continuous dividends generated by Chinese modernization: an inexhaustible source of momentum for building a global community of shared future

As President Xi has pointed out, China must be open to the world to achieve development, while the world needs China’s engagement to realize prosperity. Throughout the past year, we have continued to align our development with that of other nations and worked with the international community to advance peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation, and shared prosperity.

On the historic question of what kind of modernization to pursue, President Xi, speaking at the FOCAC Beijing Summit, highlighted the need to advance modernization that is just and equitable, open and mutually beneficial, people-centered, diverse and inclusive, eco-friendly, and underpinned by peace and security. This has pointed the way forward for modernization in countries around the world. In response to the pressing need for faster development in many countries, China has announced eight actions for global development, one of which is to take concrete steps to deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. To date, 155 countries have participated in Belt and Road cooperation, with China and its partners bucking economic headwinds in 2024 to achieve a 6.4% increase in trade. Indeed, the Belt and Road Initiative is steadily growing into a path to greater happiness for people in countries the world over.

In the face of rising protectionism, China has remained committed to expanding high-standard opening up. It has fully opened up the manufacturing sector, introduced zero tariffs on all products from all least-developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China, and continued refining policies to make it easier for foreigners to travel to China. These steps are intended to welcome all sides to share in China’s development. China has also proactively worked to align with high-standard international trade rules, implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and generate renewed momentum for developing a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). These actions reflect China’s firm commitment to promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and creating new momentum for global growth.

Joint efforts to reform and improve global governance: concrete progress in building a global community of shared future

As President Xi has noted, this vision is not about replacing one system or civilization with another. Instead, it is about bringing nations together—regardless of differences in social systems, ideologies, histories, cultures, or development levels—to pursue shared interests, uphold collective rights, and shoulder common responsibilities in global affairs, all in an effort to generate as much synergy as possible for building a better world.

Throughout the past year, China has consistently practiced true multilateralism. Guided by the principle of shared growth through discussion and collaboration, it has actively worked to provide global public goods that enable all countries to pursue development, security, and prosperity together. At the G20 Rio Summit, President Xi systematically articulated China’s vision for global governance. Rooted in the long arc of history and humanity’s shared future, this vision includes proposals to improve global governance in five areas: the economy, finance, trade, digital cooperation, and ecological sustainability, thereby providing important guidance for efforts to practice true multilateralism.

China has intensified efforts to deliver on three major initiatives it has proposed, namely the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and the Global Civilizations Initiative (GCI). Eighty-two countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI, 119 countries and international organizations have expressed support for the GSI, and the 78th session of the UN General Assembly unanimously has adopted a resolution on establishing an International Day of Dialogue among Civilizations. All these steps have created important underpinnings for building a global community of shared future. China has also played an active role in facilitating the political settlement of hotspot issues such as the Ukraine crisis and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, making its due contribution to the efforts to restore peace and save lives.

Over the past year, the vision of a global community of shared future has garnered the endorsement and support of a growing number of countries worldwide, enabling it to evolve into a grand cause uniting all parties for collective action. China and Brazil have announced that they will build a China-Brazil community of shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet. This is an example of how major emerging countries are stepping up to shoulder responsibility. China and Serbia have launched efforts to build a China-Serbia community of shared future in the new era, the first of its kind between China and a European country. 

Indeed, across the world, a growing number of countries are joining forces to build communities of shared future. Notably, China has reached an agreement with all African countries that have diplomatic relations with China to build an all-weather China-Africa community of shared future for the new era. This is a reflection of the shared desire of over 2.8 billion people across China and Africa to stand together through thick and thin. For eight consecutive years, the vision of building a global community of shared future has been included in resolutions of the UN General Assembly, and its core tenets have been integrated into the UN’s Pact for the Future. It is clear that this initiative has increasingly become a signature global public good for the world today.

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Reflecting on our remarkable diplomatic endeavors of the past year, it is clear that China’s major-country diplomacy has moved into a new phase with the potential to achieve even more. As a responsible and constructive major country, China’s influence, appeal, and power to shape have reached new heights. The important vision of building a global community of shared future has not only taken China’s diplomacy forward in great strides but won the hearts and minds of the wider international community. It is a shining banner of our times and stands as a testament to the power of ideas to shape the course of world history.

Standing at the forefront of the times, the vision of a global community of shared future is showing its true value in this era

At present, as the international community grapples with ongoing turmoil and an increasing array of global challenges, we once again find ourselves at a historical juncture. In the face of geopolitical conflicts, unilateral actions, rising protectionism, and growing traditional and non-traditional security threats, collective action by all nations has become essential. As President Xi has observed, our universe contains just one Earth, and humanity has but one home. The world’s more than 190 countries are not navigating separate small vessels, but are traveling aboard one giant ship sailing toward a shared future. When facing risks and challenges, no country can succeed in isolation—the only logical path forward is through unity, cooperation, openness, and inclusiveness. 

Countries should regard each other’s development as an opportunity rather than a challenge and engage with one another as partners instead of rivals. Global solidarity, collaboration, and mutual benefit should be the defining themes of our time. Change on a scale unseen in a century is now unfolding across the world at a faster pace. It is vital that we rise above estrangement and conflict with a broad vision and care for the future of humanity with great passion. We must work together to promote friendship and cooperation, enhance mutual learning among different cultures, and build a global community of shared future. Together, we can create a better future for our world.

Guests from both China and France unveil ice sculptures fashioned after Beijing’s Temple of Heaven and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, at the Harbin Ice and Snow World, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, January 5, 2024. The event marked the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the China-France Year of Cultural Tourism. The two countries collaborated on a host of diverse cultural exchange events throughout the year. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER SHI FENG

Evolving in step with the times, the framework for a global community of shared future has been steadily refined

President Xi initially introduced this vision at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2013. In 2015, during the General Debate of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, he outlined the pathways for its realization. In 2017, speaking at the United Nations Office in Geneva, he articulated the goal of building an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security, and shared prosperity. Through systematic efforts to explain this goal on various international occasions, President Xi has helped foster a deeper understanding of it throughout the international community.

At the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs in 2023, President Xi defined the pillars of a well-conceived system for building a global community of shared future, comprising the following elements: 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 shared growth through discussion and collaboration; 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, China hopes to work with all countries to meet challenges and achieve prosperity for all. President Xi’s important conclusions not only form the top-level design for 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.

Becoming a point of international consensus, the vision of a global community of shared future is rapidly taking shape in practice

What began as a Chinese initiative has grown into an international consensus and evolved from a promising vision into substantive action. It is now driving significant positive change across the world. At a bilateral level, the building of a global community of shared future began with China’s neighboring countries before gradually expanding across the world. To date, dozens of countries have issued action plans or joint statements, or reached important common understandings with China, on building communities of shared future. Together, we have strengthened the progressive trend toward building a new type of international relations. 

At a regional level, initiatives to build communities of shared future cover areas with concentrations of developing countries, including the Indochina Peninsula, Central Asia, ASEAN, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Arab countries, and Pacific Island nations. They also extend to cooperation mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This has generated powerful momentum for regional cooperation. 

At the global level, steady progress has been made in multilateral cooperation aimed at building a global community of health for all, a community of shared future in cyberspace, a community of life for humanity and nature, a global community of development, and a global community of security for all. These endeavors have created powerful synergy in the international arena for meeting challenges and shaping our collective future.

Integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and traditional culture, the concept of a global community of shared future is endowed with distinct theoretical qualities

This concept is an important reflection of the original aspiration and founding mission of the CPC. It fully demonstrates the CPC’s commitment to pursuing happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, as well as to promoting human progress and world harmony. It also reflects the inherent internationalist spirit and global vision of the world’s largest Marxist governing party. It is an example of our efforts to carry forward and innovate China’s fine traditional culture, lending fresh contemporary meaning to the ancient Chinese ideas of “universal harmony” and “harmonious coexistence among nations.” It exemplifies the peaceful, inclusive, and innovative nature of Chinese civilization and shines with the light of both progress and wisdom.

Furthermore, this concept is both a continuation and elevation of the fine diplomatic traditions of the People’s Republic of China. While remaining consistent with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, it also represents an evolution in step with the times, showcasing the distinctive characteristics, style, and ethos of China’s diplomacy in the new era. It has transcended old international relations theories as well as differences in social systems and ideologies while embracing variations in history, culture, and development stages. It provides a fundamental path for humanity to address global issues and opens up new horizons for the evolution of international relations in the 21st century.

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As President Xi has pointed out, building a global community of shared future is an inspiring goal but one achievable only with successive generations of sustained commitment. China is ready to join with all countries in rising to this historic mission. We will move forward with courage and determination and work tirelessly in pursuit of this noble goal. 

China is ready to work with all countries to consolidate the foundation for world peace

This year marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. China will work with all parties to promote a correct view of World War II and safeguard the hard-won fruits of victory for which our forebears sacrificed their lives. We will actively pursue the GSI, take a Chinese approach to resolving hotspot issues, and continue to play a constructive role in facilitating the political settlement of these issues.

China is ready to work with all countries to amplify the refrain of open development

We remain firmly committed to expanding high-standard opening up. We will deliver on the eight major steps under high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and leverage the positive role of platforms such as the Boao Forum for Asia, the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, and the China International Import Expo. China will continue to provide new opportunities for global development through the achievements we secure in Chinese modernization. We will advance the building of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, uphold the global free trade system, and work to ensure the stability and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains. We will actively pursue the GDI to promote shared development and prosperity of all countries.

China is ready to work with all countries to expand the ranks of those supporting friendship and cooperation

We will promote coordination and positive interactions among major countries. We will strive for the steady, sound, and sustainable development of China-US relations, consolidate the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era, and steadily steer China-EU relations toward pursuing independence, mutual success, and benefits for the whole world. We will deepen friendship, mutual trust, and the convergence of interests with neighboring countries, implement the ten partnership actions for modernization with Africa, move faster to advance the five frameworks for China-Arab cooperation, and use the 10th anniversary of the China-CELAC Forum to open a new chapter of cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean countries.

China is ready to join hands with all countries to act on our belief in multilateralism

We will join all parties in reaffirming the founding purposes and mission of the UN, firmly safeguard the authority and role of the UN, and advocate for an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. China will work meticulously to plan for the China Year of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization so as to elevate regional cooperation to a new level. We will also support Brazil and South Africa in hosting the BRICS Summit and the G20 Summit, respectively, to amplify the voice of the Global South and create more public goods for the world.

China is ready to work with all countries to build bridges for communication and exchange 

China hosted the 9th Asian Winter Games to a high standard, providing the world with a chance to experience the diverse charm of China through ice and snow sports. We will continue to make it easier for foreigners to visit China and expand the two-way exchanges between the Chinese people and people elsewhere. Promoting the common values of humanity, we will pursue the GCI to foster mutual understanding and friendship among peoples of all countries.

Our era calls for a sense of responsibility, and the way to the future lies in hard work. In the face of new circumstances and new tasks, China’s diplomatic service will continue to be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, particularly Xi Jinping thought on diplomacy. Upholding the vision of building a global community of shared future, we will continue to act with the overall picture in mind, shoulder responsibility for the greater good, and follow the righteous path, so as to make even greater contributions to the cause of peace and progress for humanity.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 2, 2025)