Country seeks development, peace for humanity

During the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October, President Xi Jinping said that since the founding of the CPC a century ago, the Party has taken a remarkable journey of dedicating itself to achieving lasting greatness for the Chinese nation, and has committed itself to the noble cause of peace and development for humanity.

Historically, having experienced internal conflicts and the devastating impacts of wars such as the Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856-60, China has placed the concept of peaceful development at the core of its foreign policy.

The concept shows that China has risen to global power and leadership through peaceful means, rather than war, and that its development also contributes to world peace. In the 21st century, China has integrated the ideas of peace and development into an integrated concept that reflects the new thinking about bringing peace to Africa through development.

For China, peace and development are inextricably linked. Thus, under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative, the twin engines of the new China-Africa architecture of development, Beijing has expanded its investments in African countries to support their economic growth and development. The offer of "public goods" has seen China become Africa's principal cooperation partner in infrastructural development, trade, investment and economic cooperation.

Furthermore, China has taken seriously its development role by providing global public goods such as the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative to boost economic growth, reduce poverty and inequality and promote global stability.

Committed to ensuring that there is peace and development for humanity, China has moved the concept of peaceful development to a whole new level. President Xi unveiled the Global Development Initiative as China's new framework for providing global public goods. The GDI's fundamental purpose is to assist the global community and the United Nations in achieving the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and reverse the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on development in developing countries, address the challenges of environmental degradation and climate change, and promote green recovery and the principles of an ecological civilization to harmonize development and the natural environment.

Without peace, there is no development. China, cognizant of this fact, further unveiled the Global Security Initiative, which aims to uphold the principles of multilateralism and international solidarity and the shared desire of all peoples to work together to overcome difficulties and build a better world. For China, the GSI will solve the persistent needs of the international community to maintain world peace and prevent conflicts and wars, especially at a time when traditional and nontraditional security threats are posing a challenge to the existence of humanity.

Today, the Horn of Africa has become a new theater of renewed tensions. The geopolitical spinoffs from competitive and strategic positioning of vested interests in the area have made the region more volatile.

Learning from experience, China has avoided any military conflict over the past three decades, and as a result of this long spell of peace, it became a rapidly developing nation. Thus, guided by the ethos of shared prosperity for all mankind, China proposed in January last year the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa. The initiative seeks to localize the ideals of the GDI and GSI in the Horn region.

During a trip to Eritrea, Kenya and Comoros in January last year, Wang Yi, then Chinese foreign minister, clarified that the peace and development initiatives will support countries in the region in addressing security, development and governance challenges.

Beijing also appointed a special envoy for the Horn of Africa to help galvanize regional consensus on a political, security and development agenda to realize lasting peace, stability and prosperity.

China's support for multilateralism, free trade, international security and peacekeeping might prompt competition for influence from other major powers, but China should continue to stand firm in the provision of sustainable security and development, guided by the principles of peaceful coexistence.

Indeed, China's provision of global public goods will lead to the attainment of peace and development for all mankind.

The author is executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute in Kenya.