China's visions and actions to tackle global concerns via cooperation, development

BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- In a time of major global changes unseen in a century, major-country relations are undergoing profound adjustments and geopolitical conflicts are mounting.

Through constructive initiatives on global development and security, and concrete actions, China has been striving to provide much-needed certainty and stability to this world rocked by changes and turmoil.

In a bid to tackle those global challenges, China has promoted the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, as well as common prosperity, unreservedly sharing its governance experience and development dividends, which attests to its commitment to peace and win-win development.

MAJOR-COUNTRY DIPLOMACY

Major-country relations are vital to global peace and stability and bear on the future of humanity. China has always played its role as a responsible major country in the international arena.

The China-U.S. relationship has global significance. China has firmly rejected the U.S. erroneous China policy and has been exploring the right way for the two countries to get along with each other.

In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia, marking the first face-to-face meeting between the two heads of state of the two countries over the past three years.

Facing U.S. provocations of a trade war or a technology war, building walls and barriers, and pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains, Xi said that China-U.S. relations should not be a zero-sum game and differences between the two countries should not become an obstacle to growing bilateral relations.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said the Xi-Biden summit in Bali was of a "bridge-building effort," marking the two world's top economies taking initial steps to ease tensions.

Meanwhile, China has deepened good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation with Russia, and made China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination more mature and resilient.

In 2022, two-way trade between China and Russia is mounting to 200 billion U.S. dollars. Their cross-border connectivity also made remarkable achievements, as major transport projects, including the Heihe-Blagoveshchensk cross-border highway bridge, were completed and put into use.

In the year ahead, their strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation are expected to be further strengthened and bilateral relations will be deepened.

Moreover, China has continued to pursue friendship and cooperation with Europe, and stay committed to the healthy development of China-Europe relations.

The past year has witnessed the visits of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the first leader of a major Western country received by China after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and President of the European Council Charles Michel to China.

The visits and growth in bilateral trade and investment against headwinds from complicated international landscape have proved the importance attached by Europe to its ties with China and the vast Chinese market.

Data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce showed that in the first 10 months of 2022, China-EU trade hit a total of 711.4 billion dollars, up 6.3 percent year-on-year.

China's exports to Europe have demonstrated outstanding performances, particularly in sectors including new energy vehicles and small heating facilities, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and data from China's e-commerce giant Alibaba.

COOPERATION, COMMON DEVELOPMENT

In 2022, China has made new contribution to upholding world peace and promoting common development with its vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Its efforts were seen around the globe, including in South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

In Indonesia's West Java province, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway has successfully undergone a trial operation last month, as a Chinese-made train finished its run on the railway's trial section.

With Chinese technology, the project is a landmark model of China-Indonesia cooperation, and also reflects China's willingness and resolve to promote cooperation and common development with Southeast Asian nations under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In 2022, China's relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have gained a robust momentum as the two sides agreed on a plan of action to advance the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, creating a better environment to unleash the dividends of regional integration.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the founding of diplomatic ties between China and Central Asian countries this year, the two sides have agreed to build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

Practical cooperation has made tangible progress and will benefit people in both China and Central Asia. The upcoming China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project is expected to further facilitate regional transportation, while the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor added to the economic and social development of the three countries.

Meanwhile, the China-Central Asia Gas Pipeline has delivered over 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China this year, according to PipeChina West Pipeline Company.

China-Arab states relations also ushered in a new era of all-round and in-depth development.

In the Riyadh Declaration of the First China-Arab States Summit jointly issued by China and Arab states, both sides agree to make all-out efforts to build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era, calling for carrying out dialogue and communication between civilizations, preserving global cultural diversity, rejecting discrimination and prejudice against a particular civilization, and rejecting the theory of the clash of civilizations.

A report on the China-Arab cooperation in the new era, issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier this month, said that China has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with 20 Arab countries and the Arab League.

Looking to the future, experts are confident that China and its Arab friends will jointly create a brighter future through Belt and Road cooperation.

"In my opinion, the closer the Arabs cooperate with China, the closer they will achieve their own revival and rejuvenation," said Samer Khair Ahmed, a Jordanian writer and expert on Arab-China relations.

OFFERING NEW INSIGHTS TO GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

In the past year, China has been offering its solutions with Chinese wisdom to fixing deficits in various fields of global governance and tackling common challenges confronting the international community.

A staunch advocate of common development, security and prosperity, China has put forward the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which are essential in addressing the urgent needs and difficulties of the divided and instable world.

The proposals showed China's consistent stance of safeguarding international equity and justice, and opposing hegemonism and power politics of all forms and manifestations.

Drawing a blueprint for a more inclusive development of the world, the GDI has won international recognition. To date, more than 100 countries and a number of international organizations, including the United Nations, have committed support to the GDI, and close to 70 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI.

In particular, China actively responds to the calls and concerns of the poverty-stricken developing countries, which bear the brunt in the aftershock of the global pandemic and economic downturn.

Implementing the G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative in all respects, China has suspended the largest amount of debt service payment among all G20 members. It also established the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, and will increase its funding for the China-UN Peace and Development Fund, to provide assistance to over 160 countries in need.

Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, secretary for external relations of the ZANU-PF politburo of Zimbabwe, welcomed the GDI as it envisions a shared future instead of a selfish one, "one which is shared by all countries of the world, rich or poor."

Besides, China proposed the GSI earlier this year, calling on the international society to uphold a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable global security.

To date, over 70 countries have given endorsement and expressed support for the GSI.

The world needs to embrace this global governance philosophy that emphasizes extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, promotes the common values of humanities and advocates exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations, said Suha Atature, head of the International Relations Department at Istanbul Gedik University.

As presidency of the recently concluded 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), China has chaired more than 30 meetings of the COP bureau and several working group meetings, coordinating and communicating with various parties and stakeholders in an effort to generate consensus.

As a result, participating countries have reached the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a historic agreement to address the loss of biodiversity and restore natural ecosystems.

Lauding the "openness and friendliness in the negotiations," Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the UN CBD, appreciated China's leadership and contribution during the meeting.

"The summary of the presidency of COP is able to bring the different positions together," she said. "We are seeing good leadership."