Building Community with Shared Future for Mankind: From China's Initiative to International Consensus

Liu Jun, Chinese Consul General in the Kurdistan Region.

Written by Liu Jun, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in the Kurdistan Region

At present, international political disputes and military conflicts have broken out in many places, the global development and security situation is complicated, and the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. As President Xi Jinping said, the world is undergoing "major changes unseen in a century". In other words, the world has once again entered the "era of contention" since World War II.

The ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been protracted for more than three months, and its spillover effects are gradually emerging, adding new complications to the already volatile Middle East and posing new and severe challenges to the already fragmented global governance system. The aspiration for peace, development and cooperation of people around the world has grown stronger, the call has grown louder and the consensus has grown stronger. As a responsible major country, China has always adhered to principles and has firmly chosen cooperation between cooperation and confrontation, has firmly chosen unity between unity and division, has firmly chosen openness between openness and closure, has firmly chosen peace between peace and war, has firmly chosen multilateralism between multilateralism and unilateralism, has firmly chosen justice between justice and power politics. This is how China proposes to solve the questions of what kind of world to build and how to build it.

Not long ago, the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs was held successfully in Beijing. This is a conference of milestone significance.An important outcome of the conference is the identification of building a community with a shared future for mankind as the theme of China’s diplomatic work.

Ten years ago, President Xi Jinping put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Over the past decade, the vision has been translated from ideas into actions, and has provided effective safeguard for preserving world peace, injected vigorous impetus into promoting global development, and built strong synergy for addressing global challenges. It has been warmly echoed by the international community. The vision has been written into resolutions of UN General Assembly for seven years in a row, and included in resolutions or declarations of multilateral mechanisms like the SCO and BRICS. It has developed from a Chinese initiative to an international consensus, from a promising vision to substantive actions, and from a conceptual proposition to a scientific system. It has served as a glorious banner leading the progress of the times. 

In summary, in building a community with a shared future for mankind, 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 the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, and the platform for action is high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. On this basis, we seek to bring countries together to meet challenges and achieve prosperity for all, and usher in a bright future of peace, security, prosperity and progress for our world.

We are living in the same global village. The connections and interdependence between countries around the world are more frequent and closer than ever. No country can stay unaffected in the face of various pressing global challenges. How should we respond to the series of major issues and challenges facing the world today？China calls for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. An equal and orderly multipolar world is one in which all countries, regardless of size, are treated as equals, hegemonism and power politics are rejected, and democracy is truly promoted in international relations. To keep the progress toward greater multipolarity generally stable and constructive, the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter must be observed by all, the universally recognized, basic norms governing international relations must be upheld by all, and true multilateralism must be practiced. A universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization is one that meets the common needs of all countries, especially the developing countries, and properly addresses the development imbalances between and within countries resulting from the global allocation of resources. It is important to resolutely oppose the attempt to roll back globalization and abuse the concept of security, oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism, firmly promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, overcome the structural problems hindering the healthy development of the world economy, and make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all.

In 2015, China and Iraq established a strategic partnership and signed cooperation agreements on jointly building the Belt and Road, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has become an important part of the Belt and Road family. In recent years, a large number of projects with both economic and social benefits have taken root in all parts of Iraq, including the KRI, and bilateral economic and trade cooperation has become increasingly close, which has become a vivid portrayal of the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Today, China is Iraq's largest trading partner, and Iraq is China's third largest trading partner among Arab countries, and the KRI has also made important contributions.

At the beginning of the New Year, everything is renewed! The year 2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese lunar calendar. The dragon is an important symbol of traditional Chinese culture, representing prosperity, good luck, and a variety of good wishes and expectations. In the New Year, we are ready to join hands with friends in the KRI to advance the Belt and Road cooperation, strive for mutually beneficial cooperation and common development, enrich the connotation of China-Iraq strategic partnership, and jointly write a new chapter of the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.