By H.E. Zhang Lizhong, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Uganda
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism and the founding of the United Nations. Over the past eight decades, an international system with the UN at its core and an international order grounded in international law have made historic contributions to world peace and development. However, today’s international landscape is still haunted by Cold War mentality, hegemonism, and protectionism. New threats and challenges continue to emerge. In this context, China’s Global Governance Initiative (GGI), proposed by President Xi Jinping at the SCO summit, comes at an opportune time. As Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted, the GGI was put forward in a “special year of taking stock of the past and envisioning the future,” contributing China’s wisdom and offering Chinese solutions to strengthen and improve global governance. Against this backdrop, the Global Governance Initiative is both timely and crucial.
Rationale for Proposing the GGI Now
The current international system has shown three key deficiencies:
– Serious underrepresentation of the Global South.
– Erosion of the UN’s authority.
– An urgent need for greater effectiveness.
In practical terms, these deficiencies mean that emerging and developing countries are underrepresented in international decision-making. The purposes and principles of the UN Charter are not fully respected, and unilateral sanctions undermine international law and order.
At the same time, progress toward the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is lagging, and governance in new domains (such as artificial intelligence and cyberspace) remains inadequate. Together, these problems have widened the global governance gap. Addressing these shortcomings, China proposed the GGI at an opportune moment.
Core Principles of the Global Governance Initiative
The Global Governance Initiative was put forward by President Xi Jinping and embodies five core concepts (five anchors):
– Sovereign equality
– International rule of law
– Multilateralism
– People-centered approach
– Real results
These five anchors clarify the principles and paths for reforming global governance. Sovereign equality means that all countries, regardless of size, strength or wealth, are equal participants, decision-makers and beneficiaries in global governance. Upholding the rule of law means firmly supporting the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, applying international law and rules equally without double standards. Practicing multilateralism means that global issues should be addressed through broad consultation and joint contribution. The UN is the core platform for multilateralism, and its role must be strengthened rather than weakened. The people-centered approach reminds us that global governance should aim at improving people’s livelihoods and security. Finally, insisting on practical results emphasizes that global governance must address real problems, balancing urgent issues with long-term challenges, and that both developed and developing countries should contribute resources and efforts appropriately.
Chinese Governance Empowers Global Governance
China has achieved significant progress in governance across a range of areas. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Communist Party of China has launched a comprehensive campaign for stricter internal discipline, focusing on eliminating formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance among Party members. By rigorously enforcing the Party’s “Eight Rules” on improving conduct and insisting that leaders set an example, standards of behavior within the Party, in government and in society have markedly improved. In social governance, President Xi’s innovative strategy of “targeted poverty alleviation” has led to success in the largest poverty reduction campaign in human history, helping to bring the global poverty rate down from 44 per cent to 9 per cent and achieving the United Nations’ 2030 poverty reduction goal ten years ahead of schedule. This represents a major contribution to the global fight against poverty.
China’s experience demonstrates how a nation can transform its political culture, social ethos and governmental effectiveness through internal reform, winning popular support and setting an innovative example of national governance. By having leaders set an example, sharply tackling the “Four Winds” of undesirable work styles and being responsive to public needs, China has not only profoundly transformed itself but also has provided valuable lessons for other developing countries. China has also consistently been an active advocate and a driving force behind global poverty reduction efforts. Through sharing its own poverty-alleviation experience, China has trained over 400,000 development professionals from more than 180 countries. Through livelihood demonstration projects, it has helped raise rice yields in several African countries from about two tonnes per hectare to 7.5 tonnes. By supporting infrastructure development, it has significantly facilitated the flow of local resources and boosted economic and social development in these regions.
Implementing the Global Governance Initiative
The GGI fully aligns with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. It firmly supports the UN’s central role in international affairs and encourages all countries to participate in reforming and developing the global governance system through multilateral mechanisms. Reforming global governance, however, does not mean overturning the existing international order or starting from scratch. Instead, the goal is to make the existing institutions more effective — better coordinated, more responsive, and more capable of addressing global challenges while serving the interests of all countries, especially developing ones.
In practice, China will leverage the UN, relevant international organizations, and regional and subregional multilateral institutions to take active steps with all partners, contributing our ideas and energy to improving global governance. Priority will be given to areas where governance is most needed – for example, reforming the international financial architecture, governing AI, cyberspace, climate change, trade, and outer space – and to firmly upholding the UN’s authority and core role while supporting the Pact for the Future. Through such measures, we will build consensus, lock in outcomes, and seek early gains in reform.
The Global Governance Initiative is China’s latest major initiative, following the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. Each of the four addresses a different aspect – development, security, civilization, and governance – but they work in concert, injecting positive energy into a turbulent world. Together, they provide strong impetus for the progress of humanity.
The GGI will bring Chinese wisdom and present China’s solutions to the challenges of our interconnected world. In the face of global change and uncertainty, China will continue to stand on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, always upholding multilateralism over confrontation. China will strengthen coordination with the UN and all partners to implement the GGI, build a more just and equitable global governance system, and move toward a community with a shared future for humanity.
