With Xi Jinping’s recent announcement of the “Global Civilization Initiative” (全球文明倡议), there are at least 5 🇨🇳 initiatives aimed towards shaping the international order.

What are they?

How are they interrelated?

What does that mean for Xi Jinping’s third term?

Last week, when asked about 🇨🇳 vision to “improve” global governance, Qin Gang referred to the following initiatives:
1⃣ Community of Shared Future of Mankind
人类命运共同体
2⃣ BRI 一带一路
3⃣ Common values of mankind 全人类共同价值
4⃣ GSI 全球安全倡议
5⃣ GDI 全球发展倡议

1⃣ Community of Shared Future of Mankind (CCD) is framed as the PRC’s proposal for an international order free of the “inherent (Western) biases of the existing international order”.

In 2017/18 the term CCD was incorporated into the preambles of the CPC and PRC constitution.

During his first address to the UN General Assembly (in 2015), Xi introduced the CCD to the global stage

It has 5 (abstract) components:

▪️Equal partnerships
▪️A new security architecture
▪️Common development
▪️Inter-civilization exchanges
▪️Green development

2⃣ Xi announced the BRI in Sep 2013. It developed into the priority of 🇨🇳 foreign policy.

In 2017, pursuing the BRI was written into the CPC constitution.

🇨🇳 leadership has been referring to the BRI as a means “to build a new model of international relations”.

The BRI is Beijing’s vision of global (China-centered) interconnectedness and includes 5 key cooperation areas:

▪️Intergovernmental policy coordination
▪️Reduction of trade barriers
▪️(Infrastructure) connectivity
▪️Financial integration
▪️People-to-people exchanges

In April 2022, Xi proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI) during the Boao forum.

This February, 🇨🇳 issued the GSI Concept Paper.

The GSI may be viewed as the PRC’s vision of collective security reform.

The GSI highlights 6 aspects:

▪️Common security
▪️Sovereignty and territorial integrity
▪️Focus on the UN Charter
▪️Legitimate security concerns of all countries
▪️Peaceful dispute resolution via dialogue and consultation
▪️Security in traditional & non-traditional domains

Xi announced the Global Development Initiative (GDI) in September 2021 at the UNGA.

With the GDI 🇨🇳 projects its prioritization of development to the UN level, attempting to tie it to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

It builds on past efforts to tie the BRI to the SDGs.

The GDI includes 8 priority areas:

▪️Poverty alleviation
▪️Food security
▪️Pandemic response and vaccines
▪️Development finance
▪️Climate change and green development
▪️Industrialization
▪️Digital economy & connectivity in the digital era

The “common values of mankind” concept is central to the 🇨🇳 narrative

“Modernization does not equal Westernization”.

It criticizes Western claims of universality and “biases of the global order”, which “favor the West while discriminating against the developing world.”

On March 15, Xi Jinping announced the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), which appears to incorporate the “modernization does not equal westernization” narrative into a broader initiative.

It is another outreach effort to the developing world & critique to the “West”.

The GCI includes 4 elements:
▪️Respect for the diversity of world civilizations
▪️Common values of all mankind
▪️Historical and cultural values of all countries
▪️International cultural exchanges & cooperation

If you look at Xi’s 2015 Community of Shared Future of Mankind speech, you see a direct link to the CDI, the GSI, and the GCI.

Notably, this January, the State Council also issued the “China’s Green Development in the New Era” white paper.

At least on paper, we are currently witnessing a new phase to substantiate the concept of Community of Shared Future of Mankind.

At the same time, the BRI is still ongoing & the 3rd BRI Forum will take place later this year.

Despite the increasing 🇺🇸🇨🇳 tensions, the foreign policy priorities/direction of Xi’s 3rd term appear clearer & more concrete:

Reaching out to the global south to shape the international order.

Implementing those initiatives is a different story but the political will is there