Xi Jinping and China's new era
A shared future
China is increasingly connected to the world. In 2014, Chinese made over 100 million overseas trips. The country's outbound direct investment topped $120 billion, achieving a near equilibrium with foreign direct investment for the first time. More Chinese live, study and work abroad.
The expression "China is moving closer to center stage" now appears often in news reports. The topic of how to handle China's interactions with the rest of the world has become a major subject for the Chinese leadership.
In his first overseas trip as Chinese president in March 2013, Xi introduced the notions of "a shared future" and "a new type of international relations".
Two years later, Xi took the podium at the UN, expounding "a community with a shared future for humanity". He later elaborated that the desired world would be one that is safe, prosperous, open, inclusive, tidy and beautiful.
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi, connects continents and oceans through trade and investment like never before.
The goal, contrary to what some people in the West claim, is to help more countries and regions enjoy the fruits of economic globalization through mutually beneficial results.
This reflects the kind of international relations envisioned by Xi－mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation.
A total of 136 countries and 30 international organizations have signed cooperation agreements with China on the initiative. A study by the World Bank found that if implemented fully, the initiative could lift 32 million people out of moderate poverty and boost global trade by up to 6.2 percent.
China is becoming a hub for joint consultation on global governance and development. Xi hosted world leaders in a series of global summits, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Beijing meeting in 2014, the G20 Hangzhou summit in 2016, the BRICS Xiamen summit in 2017 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Qingdao summit in 2018.
On the world stage, more Chinese have assumed top positions at international organizations, most recently the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. China's currency, the yuan, has been included in the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights basket, and financial institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund have been set up.
China has become an indispensable force in resolving global and regional issues, from climate change, terrorism, wealth disparities and fair trade to peacekeeping.
This year, China became the second-largest contributor to the UN's regular budget after the US. China is also the largest contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. A$1 billion China-UN Peace and Development Fund has been in operation since 2016.
"The CPC always regards making a greater contribution to humanity a mission," Xi said.
