There is only one solution to world peace, and that is China’s Global Governance Initiative (GGI).

Despite the United States’ spurious claim of a “China threat”, China has always advocated world peace and a harmonious relationship between all nations. It is not a threat to any country, regardless of provocations and false rumors spread by the US and its Five Eyes intelligence (propaganda) network — that includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

President Xi Jinping proposed the initiative at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025, held in China’s northern coastal city of Tianjin earlier in the month — SCO’s largest-ever annual summit since its formation in 2001. It was attended by the leaders of some 20 countries and the heads of 10 international organizations.

In launching the new global initiative, Xi highlighted five principles of the GGI — adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by the international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating a people-centric approach, and focusing on taking real actions.

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It comes at a time when the world is in confusion and turmoil. The Trump administration’s wishy-washy decision-making has alienated many US trading partners, which are anxiously looking for a more trustworthy partner or ally. Deals have been cut, reinstated and readjusted before the ink has dried on President Trump’s executive orders; foreign nationals have been deported from US shores and then asked to return. US hegemony and bullying tactics are coming to a close because of Washington’s temperamental policymaking and fickle changes. It risks being isolated soon on the world stage. The world has had enough of such abuse of traditional American leadership on the world stage; thus new groups are being formed around the world to counter US hegemony and blatant bullying.

The distinguishing feature of GGI is equality among all countries, regardless of size, strength, and wealth, as equal partners in global governance. By promoting collaborative international policy formulation and decision-making to tackle problems, it will deal more effectively with global challenges, including climate change, economic imbalances, human rights abuses, the digital revolution, and sustainable development. It will put smaller nations on the same footing as the bigger ones when discussing trade deals, international laws, and territorial boundaries.

It is truly a commendable initiative and sits neatly with other initiatives proposed by Xi — the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative — in recent years. It also aligns with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), initiated by China in 2013, which involves investments in more than 150 countries.

The BRI builds healthy economies backed by robust infrastructure projects promoting transportation, energy and communication networks. BRI engagement since 2013 has reached $1.175 trillion. Preliminary data on Chinese engagement through financial investments and contractual cooperation for 2024 in the BRI-participating countries involved about 340 deals worth $121.8 billion, up 31 percent from the previous year.

However, to be workable, the GGI will require some global ramifications. For example, the United Nations Security Council should be expanded to reflect significant emerging economies to ensure fairer representation on matters that affect them. This will help in the financing of peacekeeping and development initiatives, thus providing global stability as well as facilitating conflict resolution. It will also make it more difficult for more powerful countries to manipulate global trade policies and dominate economic issues.

The GGI received high praise from world leaders attending the summit. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the GGI “is anchored in multilateralism and underscores the importance of safeguarding the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia supports the initiative and “is eager to engage in a substantive discussion of the proposals presented by our Chinese friends. We have given careful consideration to the proposals put forward by President Xi Jinping for establishing a more effective and functional system of global governance. Such efforts are particularly relevant at a time when certain countries continue to pursue dictatorial practices in international affairs.”

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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wrote in a social media post that his country fully supports the initiative, which he said is based on “justice, compassion, humanity and cooperation, with multilateralism at its core”.

And Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said his country supports the GGI, as “it will contribute to the reform of the global governance system, in order to ensure the construction of a community with a shared future”.

For Xi, the name of the game is diplomacy, building on the strengths and cooperation among old friends while establishing new friendships with an olive branch. At present, the world is divided between warmongers, where the only winner is the US through the huge profits earned by selling its weapons, and collaborative diplomacy championed by China, where investments are made in genuine conflict resolution, infrastructure building, and economic development, ensuring prosperity and peace.

The author is a former chief information officer of the Hong Kong government, a PR and media consultant, and veteran journalist. 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.