中文
A single flower does not make spring, while one hundred flowers in full blossom bring spring to the garden. "Together we can make the garden of world civilisations colourful and vibrant," Chinese President Xi Jinping said during the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting on 15 March 2023. It was at this meeting that he, for the first time, introduced the Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI), urging respect for the diversity of civilisations, recognition of humanity's common values, preservation and innovation of cultural traditions, and deeper international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.
The GCI is another important public good offered by China to the international community. Together with the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative, it has received broad support around the world, particularly in the Global South. The initiative focuses on promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different civilisations and advancing the progress of human civilisation. It injects strong impetus into the process of modernisation and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
Mutual respect
"President Xi Jinping's GCI is very farsighted and provides Chinese wisdom and solutions to the problems and conflicts we see in the world today," said Sizo Nkala, senior research fellow at the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg. "I think the GCI is especially important in a world affected by division and disunity, where many conflicts and confrontations are taking place."
He told ChinAfrica that the GCI promotes global unity and encourages recognition of the diversity of the world's civilisations. "It does not say that one civilisation is better than another. Instead, it emphasises that all civilisations are equal and that we can learn from each other," he noted.
Referring to the metaphor used by President Xi that a single flower does not make spring, Nkala said every civilisation has something valuable to contribute to humanity. According to him, the world can learn from all civilisations, including African, Chinese, Western and others.
He said many of today's conflicts arise from a lack of understanding and trust among people from different civilisations. "The GCI seeks to bridge these divides by encouraging dialogue and exchanges. By helping people to understand one another better, it fosters the trust needed to support a peaceful global order."
Unlike the West, which has often regarded its civilisation as universal and the only one of importance, the GCI understands and embraces the diversity of the world's civilisations, he added.
Dialogue matters
In a world marked by numerous conflicts, the GCI emphasises that every civilisation should be treated equally and with respect. "The China-proposed GCI promotes dialogue and exchanges among civilisations, offering valuable guidance for global peace and development," said Gert Grobler, a former senior diplomat of South Africa.
Grobler has served as South Africa's ambassador to Spain, Japan and Madagascar, and is now a senior research fellow at the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University. In July 2025, he travelled to Beijing to attend the Global Civilisations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting.
The Global Civilisations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting "shows China's commitment to safeguarding diversity of human civilisations for world peace and development, as the meeting's theme suggested," Grobler said. The two-day event attracted over 600 participants from 140 countries and regions.
In his congratulatory letter to the meeting, President Xi said, "The world is, in nature, a place of diverse civilisations. History has shown us that exchanges and mutual learning among civilisations are essential for civilisations to flourish and human progress to be made."
Grobler said he was deeply impressed by President Xi's remarks. "Our world has different civilisations and we should be tolerant of each other. In today's world, with many divergences, dialogue on the basis of mutual respect is the only way forward," he added. "African people are enthusiastic about the GCI and are looking forward to greater cooperation with China."
An exemplary case
According to Nkala, over the last three years, China and African countries have achieved notable progress in bilateral relations and people-to-people exchanges under the framework of the GCI. Their cooperation can be regarded as an exemplary case in implementing the GCI.
In September 2024, when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited China, the two countries agreed to elevate bilateral relations to an all-round strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, marking the highest level of diplomatic cooperation between the two countries and the first such partnership China has established with an African country.
At the same time, during the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, bilateral relations between China and all African countries with diplomatic ties to China were elevated to the level of strategic relations. The overall characterisation of China-Africa relations was also elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
"The main reason for the rapid progress of China-Africa relations in recent years is that we respect each other's civilisations and treat them on an equal basis. We never consider any civilisation to be superior to another," said Nkala. "This is the essence of the GCI that we must follow."
He stated that education is the most effective way for people to understand and value other civilisations. "In South Africa, we have Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, which allow local students to learn the Chinese language, Chinese culture and Chinese martial arts."
Statistics from the official website of the Confucius Institute show that, to date, a total of 78 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms have been established in 49 African countries, including 10 in South Africa. "These institutions are playing an important role in promoting Chinese culture and teaching the Chinese language in Africa," said Nkala. "At the same time, we have also seen Chinese youth coming to South Africa to learn about South African culture and to enrol in South African educational institutions."
"We can further develop educational cooperation to promote joint research and cultivate additional talent, and deepen partnerships in media and think tanks to tell positive stories of China-Africa cooperation and development," he said, noting that internet platforms and digital media can help to establish more convenient communication channels so that a broader public can participate in exchanges of civilisations.
