From B& R forum to BRICS summit, Beijing rises to global challenges
As the world lauded the achievements of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation earlier this month in rebalancing economic globalization, China's approach to global governance and development is becoming ever more evident via win- win cooperation.
The two- day forum of world leaders ended last week with promises and high hopes that the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, will be favorable to the building of a better world.
Speaking to media at the scenic Yanqi Lake on the outskirts of Beijing on May 15, Xi said 68 countries and international organizations have signed cooperation deals with China to carry forward the Belt and Road.
Many were inked during the just concluded forum.
The progress did not just end there. According to Xi, a list of more than 270 outcomes was formulated at the forum's Leaders Roundtable, setting the way forward.
The roundtable also produced a communique which strongly denounces protectionism.
“We reaffirm our shared commitment to build open economy, ensure free and inclusive trade, oppose all forms of protectionism,” it read. “We endeavor to promote a universal, rules- based, open, non- discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system with WTO at its core.”
At a time when the world's largest economy – the United States – retreats to focus on domestic affairs, China's efforts to rally support from all over the world to champion globalization and multilateralism have won global ovation.
In fact, it has become increasingly clear that the past few years marked China's transition from a player in global affairs to a leader of the global agenda.
From APEC Beijing summit in 2014 to G20 Hangzhou summit in 2016 and this year's Belt and Road forum, China has used the international stage to champion a holistic approach to development, which acknowledges that domestic well- being relies on a nation's regional neighbors and the international community at large.
By setting up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and by pledging increased Chinese commitments such as an additional 100 billion yuan ($ 14.5 billion) to the Silk Road Fund, China is showing the world that its approach to development is more than political rhetoric, but down- to- earth action.
China's vision to bring down walls and barriers and to embrace win- win co- operation between nations fits well with the building of a community of shared future for mankind, a notion Xi put forward in late 2012.
Cooperation among emerging markets is one important pillar in that notion.
While attending a BRICS leaders' meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit last year, Xi said that BRICS members should enhance coordination to make emerging- market economies and developing countries play a bigger role in international affairs.
BRICS nations are leaders among emerging- market economies and developing countries, and also important members of the G20, Xi said, noting that they should reinforce coordination to build, maintain and develop the BRICS and G20 platforms.
BRICS groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. According to the International Monetary Fund, BRICS and other developing countries contributed 80 percent of global growth in 2016.
“Deficit in peace, development and governance poses a daunting challenge to mankind,” Xi said in a keynote speech at the opening of the Belt and Road forum.
In this sense, emerging economies such as the BRICS countries constitute the most important engine for world economic growth, a robust anchor for stability, as well as a dedicated contributor to global governance.
With that in mind, the BRICS summit, with the theme “BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future,” is expected to strengthen solidarity and collaboration among BRICS members, improve global governance, and deepen pragmatic cooperation to achieve mutual benefits.
It will also serve to increase peopleto- people exchanges, enhance public support, strengthen institutional mechanisms and improve cooperation platforms.
China's hosting of both the Belt and Road forum and the BRICS summit this year shows its dedication to win- win cooperation as a sound solution to world challenges and a solid path toward a community of shared future.
That shall be China's contribution to global governance.