A Community with a Shared Future for Mankind, a Bright Path for Humanity

Nowdays, the world is at a crucial period of readjustment and major changes. The reform of global governance system and the international order have been accelerated. The instability and uncertainty of human society have been highlighted. Geopolitical conflicts have led to turmoil in several regions, and non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, climate change, and major contagious diseases continue to spread.

Today, humankind is faced with many challenges; the issue concerning the direction the international community is going in draws attention. Under this background, the role of major countries is particularly crucial. The international community calls for a leading force that advocates fairness and justice, promotes win-win cooperation, defends progress, unity, and common understanding. At this crossroads, humankind urgently needs to find ways to overcome the law of jungle, surpass confrontation, oppose estrangement, and advocate the whole world as one community.

Contributing Chinese Wisdom

“The whole world as one community,” this is a firm commitment and a strategic choice made by China, which is increasingly approaching the center of the world stage. “Building a harmonious world among people of various countries,” this is the Chinese wisdom that inherits the fine traditions of Chinese culture and reflects the universal aspirations of all human beings. It has outlined a beautiful blueprint for the development of the world and the future of humanity.

The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is the result of historical development. In March 2013, for the first time, the concept was formally put forward to the world by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Since then, President Xi has explained this innovative thinking to the world in more than 100 momentous occasions, from the China-Africa Cooperation Forum to the Boao Forum for Asia, from Hangzhou G20 Summit to the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, from the UN headquarters in New York to the Palace of Nations in Geneva.

The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is not hollow diplomatic language, but a program of action and a guideline for China to actively promote major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in a new era.

The concept has become a high-frequency term of China’s diplomacy. Its connotation, framework, and scope have also been gradually developed and improved. On October 18, 2017, President Xi proclaimed in the report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC): “China champions the development of a community with a shared future for mankind, and has encouraged the evolution of the global governance system… China has made great new contributions to global peace and development…and create a bright tomorrow for all of us.” Besides, “work to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and advance the building of a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity” has been written into the CPC constitution.

In his keynote speech at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting on December 1, 2017, President Xi elaborated the concept comprehensively and systematically, and put forward a Chinese proposal based on two questions – to build a what kind of world and how to build this world, and called on all humankind to work together to build a better world.