This year marks five years since the founding by Chinese President Xi Jinping of the much-heralded Global Development Initiative (GDI).
Five years ago, addressing the thorny issue of global development, President Xi came up with the idea of the GDI during the general debate of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly.
In only five years since then, the GDI has proved so popular that no less than 130 countries plus international organizations have endorsed President Xi’s idea by openly throwing their weight behind this revolutionary mode of inclusive global development.
The GDI is not only a socio-economic proposition, it is also a geopolitical theory of collective development based on the notion of shared future, which is a fundamental cornerstone of China’s foreign policy.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, addressing a high-level meeting on the GDI in Beijing last week, noted: “In just five years, the GDI has turned from a Chinese proposal into a global consensus, and from a statement of goals into concrete actions in support of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), winning wide appreciation and drawing active participation from the international community.”
Minister Wang Yi’s words were absolutely spot-on! The emergence of the GDI came about amid an increasing atmosphere of antagonistic unilateralism and increasing global conflict. The GDI, therefore – at a geopolitical level at least – seeks to bring back from the abyss of despair an international community faced with growing fragmentation to a space of shared values and common goals, as per the founding principles contained in the UN Charter.
The phenomenal success of the GDI can also be seen through the support and participation in its cooperation by nearly 100 countries and international and regional organisations that have signed GDI cooperation documents directly with the People’s Republic of China.
By putting the philosophy of inclusive global development first, the GDI has been able to attract phenomenal support. In the same vein, global partnership for collective development has continued to gain increased momentum across most parts of the world.
The impact of the GDI has been multifaceted. It can also be seen through the growing international body known as the Group of Friends of the GDI, which boasts no less than 88 countries at this point, and growing.
To give credence to the emerging phenomenon that is the GDI, China has launched more than 30 cooperation mechanisms as well as platforms. This has served to provide stronger support for the Majority World nations, the aim being to enhance the inclusive development throughout the Global South and beyond.
Minister Wang Yi also pointed out that the GDI has, since its inception a mere five years ago, brought tangible benefits to ordinary people in at least more than 120 countries. These benefits can be seen through China-UN Peace and Development Fund, the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, plus more than 23 billion US Dollars mobilised in order to support 1,800 “small and beautiful” livelihood projects, as well as providing training for more than 200,000 people in different professions.
China has also established the Sustainable Development Science Satellite 1 (SDGSAT-1). This enables synchronised data sharing, and also helps the Global South countries with meteorological warning and disaster prevention and mitigation.
“We are living through a period of transformation and turbulence,” Minister Wang Yi said, before adding: “The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has seen serious delays, the North-South gap keeps widening, and the cause of global development faces grave challenges.”
He said the above confirms “the pressing relevance of the GDI”. He further said: “For the sake of our shared future, we should continue to underscore the imperative of development and align the GDI with the UN development agenda.”
The role of the GDI in international affairs was also underscored in clear terms by Minister Wang Yi when he said that through the GDI, “we should uphold the international system centred around the UN and the international order based on international law, and make every effort to foster a generally stable international environment and favourable conditions for global development cooperation”.
He said China will continue to use its rising impact and influence in world affairs to support the UN “in its pursuit of reform, revitalization, and a stronger development pillar, so as to advance the interests of developing countries”.
This, in my humble opinion, is the crux of China’s commendable role in modernity. Officially recognised as the world’s second biggest economy, China has been steadfast in playing the role of a catalyst in the rapidly unfolding reconfiguration of the international world order.
To always put the Majority World first – emphasising the interests of the Global South and “developing countries” in literature and physical activities – China has carved for itself the niche to bring about a world order that is premised on equality before international law and respect for the overall principle of the UN, based on consensus-seeking mechanisms and multilateral cooperation and equality of all nations regardless of economic, military or geographic size.
This, therefore, position the GDI as a truly global vehicle for public good, a force for transformation to reckon with, and a magnet for global cooperation based on peaceful coexistence instead of unnecessary conflict.
