By He Yin, People’s Daily
“As an old Chinese saying goes, ‘Passengers in the same boat should help each other.’ Today, dwellers of the same planet should help each other,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping when attending the China International Friendship Conference and conference marking the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries on October 11.
This year, Xi reiterated “promoting global solidarity” on many diplomatic occasions, demonstrating China’s firm determination to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
Over the past year, China has responded to the fast-changing global landscape with composure and confidence. In pursuing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, the country has viewed the future of humanity with a broad humanistic value, transcended barriers and conflicts with an open and inclusive mindset, and pooled collective strength for development with a vision of harmonious coexistence, forging widespread consensus and strong synergy for building a community with a shared future for mankind.
The most profound pursuit of a nation has its origin in the national character formed through generations.”The Chinese civilization is the only one that has continued uninterrupted for more than 5,000 years,” said Xi when meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in France this year. They discussedhow different civilizations could coexist in harmony without seeking uniformity.
The prominent continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and peaceful nature of the Chinese civilization serve as the basis for the distinctive characteristics, style, and demeanor of Chinese diplomacy, which facilitate the understanding of the international influence, appeal, and shaping capacity of the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankindhas deep roots in China’s profound cultural heritage andrepresents an innovative transformation and development of fine traditional Chinese culture.
The Chinese nation believes all nations together are one community, advocates fraternity among all peoples and peace for all countries, and pursues a world of fairness and justice for the common good.
To address the vital question of”what kind of world we need and how to build such a world,” Xi proposedtobuilda community with a shared future for mankind. This vision integrates Marxism’s mission of advancing human progress with the virtues of harmony and unity embodied in fine traditional Chinese culture, enriching and expanding China’sphilosophy of peaceful development.
Itenvisions a historic progress in state-to-state relations from the pursuit of peaceful coexistence to that of a future shared by all. It shows the world a bright prospect of peace, security, prosperity, and progress. Humanity can only create a brighter future by working together in solidarity and harmony, and moving toward a community with a shared future for mankind.
Xi has put forth the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilizations Initiative, outlining a path for human progress through the three dimensions of development, security, and civilization. These initiatives provide strategic guidance for building a community with a shared future for mankind, which demonstrates that China is not only committed to its own development but also contributes to the wellbeing of all humanity.
The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind has been steadily enriched, with steady progress made in practical actions. China has made efforts to build communities with a shared future with particular regions, including with Central Asia, ASEAN, countries in the Lancang-Mekong river basin, Arab states, and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. These efforts are opening up new vistas of harmonious coexistence between different civilizations.
In May this year, Xi paid a state visit to Serbia, during which the two countries jointly announced the decision to builda China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, the first of its kind in China’s relations with European countries.
In July, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in Astana, Kazakhstan, SCO member states reaffirmed their commitment to building a community with a shared future for mankind and a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation.
In September, at the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the overall characterization of China-Africa relations was elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
In November, during Xi’s visit to Brazil, he and his Brazilian counterpart announced an elevation of bilateral ties to a community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet.
These milestones mark breakthroughs made in building a community with a shared future for mankind, which has shaped the historical trend toward a shared future and greater solidarity in our global village.
As the world is faced with accelerating changes unseen in a century, human society is again standing at a crossroads in history.Only by drawing wisdom from ancient civilizations and maintaining a far-sighted vision can the world avoid losing its way amid transformations and ensure that the ship of humanity is always sailing in the right direction.
At this critical juncture, it is more important than ever for humanity to uphold the visionof building a community with a shared future for mankind, and let the beacon of civilization illuminate the right path forward for humanity.
