Envisioning a better shared future
China’s proposals, developmental initiatives offer a road map for well-being of all humanity
China’s State Council Information Office published a white paper in September outlining Beijing’s proposal and actions in regard to the construction of a community of shared future for mankind.
The vision for a community of shared future was first presented by President Xi Jinping during a speech in Russia at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2013. Since it was unveiled, it has been steadily enriched, and global dialogue and enthusiasm around it has grown phenomenally.
From the rigorous exertions to understand the evolving trends and historical trajectories of the contemporary world, the Communist Party of China (CPC) generates outlooks that engage the specific needs of the times. To understand the evolving and developing trends is crucial, but to assemble the necessary and existential tools to shape it, in the directions that maximize its benefits while reducing to the barest minimum its adverse effects, is more facilitative and conducive to the well-being of all humanity.
The proposal and vision of the community of shared future derive from acute and rigorous interrogations of the current state of mankind and its prospective outcomes of either to prosper together or face doom together.
The pathway to an integrated global order illuminated by the unprecedented breakthrough in information and communication technology has made for epic transitions from the previous fragmentated and isolated world. While there has been copious study of the international system both in its various parts and its whole, there has been a clear deficit in the mechanics and process to undertake practical steps to align its outcomes with the well-being of humanity.
The community of shared future is a holistic, theoretical approach that methodically deconstructs the patterns of emerging global trends and has clearly delineated its tapestries, but more important, it engages the practical tools to respond to the questions that are raised.
The vision of a community of shared future for mankind sets the tasks for basically provoking new thinking across the world about the challenges of the new era. Despite the obvious grounds for cooperation, the current international order is fraught with challenges. Some countries still hold on to the outdated views of their exceptionalism and desperately stand in the way of the emerging multipolar world order.
But multipolarity is a basic feature of our world. Different histories, national conditions, ethnic groups and customs have given birth to diverse civilizations, and mutual learning among civilizations provides important impetus to human progress. In its history of more than 100 years, the CPC has consistently championed a global vision grounded in a rigorous engagement with reality, without losing its focus on the specific national condition of China.
The Party’s rich experience has taught it to understand that the fate of China is intrinsically linked to the world, and that to strive for a prosperous China is also to bring opportunities to the world.
The vision of a community of shared future for humanity is not empty political rhetoric. Because it is a vision derived from a materialistic conception of history, its trajectories are essentially driven by creating the material conditions for its realization. To this end, China is exerting itself and generating the global partnership necessary for the journey toward an inclusive global order.
Over the past 10 years, China has proposed and developed a global framework for building a community of shared future through the partnership of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has generated extensive public goods. Though the BRI was proposed by China, its opportunities and achievements clearly belong to the world. More than 150 countries are already partners in Belt and Road construction.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Silk Road Fund have been set up, providing financing support for hundreds of projects. People-to-people connectivity continues to strengthen. Roads, bridges and development belts that lead to a happier and better life are constantly emerging in participating countries.
Furthermore, the building of wells, the cultivation of hybrid rice and other small projects that improve people’s lives are giving people in countries participating in the BRI a stronger sense of gain and fulfillment.
The vision of a community of shared future is a clarion call to every part of the world to rise to the challenge of contributing meaningfully and constructively to the shared destiny of mankind. It is the practical interpretation of globalization in the new era and represents a humanization of the process that puts the well-being of all people first.
The white paper that China released on the direction and prospects of a global community of shared future deserves attention and study. Africa in particular should play a pivotal role in advancing the road map for a global vision of shared future for humanity.