Twelve years ago, President Xi Jinping introduced vision of a Community with a Shared Future (CWSF). He presented the vision during a time when the world was struggling to recover from the aftermath of 2007-2008 financial crisis and the war on terror.
Both the financial crisis and the war on terror shook the entire global system. The financial crisis severely impacted economies, leading to a significant increase in public and private debt, while the global economy faced clouds of uncertainty.
The war on terror instilled global fear, placing immense pressure on the world, especially Muslim and Muslim-majority countries. The US and its allies invaded many Muslim countries in the name of terrorism. Additionally, climate change emerged as an existential threat to humanity and the planet.
The situation urged global community to act unitedly, but the US and its allies chose the opposite path. Instead of focusing on terrorism, United States and its allies began to associate Muslims with terrorism. They concentrated their efforts on scapegoating China under the guise of financial crisis.
The End of History and Clash of Civilisations became dominant themes in policy discussions. The global institutions, created with enticing slogans promoting equality, respect for sovereignty, dignity and the interests of all while fostering prosperity for everyone, were manipulated to benefit the interests of a select few. It fractured the trust of global community, especially weak countries in the global system. Rather than fixing the problems, Western powers started to bully and pressure weak countries to follow Western agenda.
President Xi Jinping recognised China must act now as an emerging global power. Otherwise, the global system will become even more fractured, and weaker countries will face the harshest consequences. He extracted guidance from Chinese philosophy, where Confucius teaches that the best way to establish, flourish and sustain a relationship is to share prosperity. Where Taoism preaches that harmony among humans and between nature and humans is a key to creating a sustainable, peaceful and prosperous world. Then, President Xi analyzed the contemporary problems and tried to visualise the future challenges.
Based on his analysis, he developed vision of a Community with a Shared Future. He did not stop there; he immediately started to ponder how to substantiate it with practical actions. What should be the structure, and how should China implement it?
He again reverted to Chinese philosophy, which highlights importance of inclusiveness, empathy and a win-win cooperation formula. Based on this philosophy, he intended to devise concrete programmes under the umbrella of a community with a shared future and finalised the future agenda.
After assuming leadership of China, he started to further fine-tune the vision to make it more pro-people. He introduced the idea at global level in 2013 while delivering a speech at Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Later, he shared philosophy of CWSF at numerous global events and UN sessions.
President Xi Jinping summarised philosophy, guiding principles and ultimate goals during his talk at the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs in 2023 to enhance understanding of CWSF further.
He shared that 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 extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit; 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 GDI, GSI and GCI; and the platform for action is high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
The analysis of actions and programmes launched by President Xi domestically and globally indicates all actions and programmes are in accordance with above-mentioned goals, principles and proposed strategic interventions. For example, Belt and Road initiative was launched to reinvigorate growth by bridging the investment gap.
It was envisioned BRI would assist the world, especially developing world, in exploring a sustainable path of development and prosperity. After 10 years of BRI, there is consensus among the larger community of experts and leading institutions BRI significantly contributed to global economic growth and development. From 2013 to 2023, China has invested almost $1 trillion in numerous projects under the BRI.
During the last ten years, this investment has also helped mobilise $2.49 trillion from partner countries while implementing 3220 joint projects. Trade between China and BRI countries has increased from $1.03 trillion to $2.07 trillion. The success was achieved on the back of generous investment, a win-win cooperation formula, and a shared and discussed vision for growth and development.
President Xi focused global development and creating opportunities to contribute to fostering development. The development and environmental protection are areas that are very close to President Xi’s heart. That’s why he invested in strengthening institutions such as South-South Cooperation and Six Hundred Development Programmes.
In 2015, President Xi pledged $3billion for South-South Cooperation Fund and again refuelled it with $1 billion. Later, he came up with the idea of Global Development Initiative, a comprehensive and multipronged development programme. Chinese financial institutions have pooled and dedicated $10 billion to Global Development Initiative and over 200 cooperation projects have been included in the GDI project pool.
On the other hand, President Xi is cognizant of the fact without protecting environment and biodiversity and respecting boundaries of nature, development and prosperity cannot be sustainable. Thus in 2015, he pledged $3.1 billion to establish China South-South Climate Cooperation Fund. In 2021, he pledged $230 million to Kunming Biodiversity Fund to protect the biodiversity.
Under the GDI, China has established many platforms, such as International NGO Network for Poverty Reduction Cooperation, Global Development Promotion Centre, Global Alliance for Poverty Reduction and Development (GAPRD), International Vaccines Research, Development and Innovation Alliance, World TVET League, International Coalition for Energy Transitions, Global Network for Sustainable Forest Management, etc.
Moreover, China is building partnerships by launching various initiatives, such as World Conference on Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems (GIAHS), Initiative for Agrarian Civilisation Protection, World Vocational and Technical Education Development Conference, Global Development Initiative, Digital Cooperation Forum, 2022 Global Digital Economy, UN World Data Forum 2023, Digital Literacy and Skills Improvement Initiative, World Youth Development Forum, etc.
Simultaneously, China promotes knowledge sharing and capacity-building through initiatives like South-South Cooperation in Cross-Border E-commerce for Poverty Eradication and Global Sustainable Development, China-Pacific Island Countries Demonstration Centre for Agricultural Cooperation and planned to launch ICT Capacity Building Programmes, etc.
Based on the above discussion, we can conclude a community with a shared future has been assisting the world to mend the distortion of world order and build a prosperous, beautiful, environment-friendly and peaceful world, a world where everyone can pursue the dream of sustainable development.
There should not be prejudices against countries, races or ethnicities, and there should be respect for diversity. Human rights are not exploited for geopolitical goals, but are protected and ensured in all circumstances.