At present, the international security situation is grim, economic recovery lacks momentum and the development gap is widening. Natural disasters and extreme weather patterns are increasing. The global order faces multiple challenges. Facing profound changes in the world, in our times and in history. Chinese President Xi Jinping made a major call of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and he called on the international community to jointly build a world with lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity, a world that is open, inclusive, clean and beautiful. Since then. President Xi Jinping has proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. Those Initiatives have enriched the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind and set out a pathway towards realizing this goal. More and more countries have realized that they all share a huge stake in common survival and that unity and cooperation is the right path.
The historical trend of peace, development and win-win cooperation is unstoppable. With that in mind. I call for taking steps in four areas.
First, we should uphold equity and justice and safeguard peace and security. The security of all countries is interconnected. Indeed, the security of one country has an impact on that of other countries. It is important to follow the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and embark on a path to security featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win outcomes over a zero-sum game.
We should address the legitimate security concerns of all countries and resolve differences and disputes in a peaceful way through dialogue and consultation. Communication and dialogue is an important way to achieve international security cooperation, and parties to a conflict or confrontation should never forget that. The cessation of hostilities and resumption of peace talks is the only way to settle the Ukraine crisis. China supports all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis and stands ready to continue playing a constructive role for the early attainment of peace.
The Palestinian issue is at the core of the Middle East issue. The fundamental way out lies in the two- State solution. China will continue to support the Palestinian people in pursuing the just cause of restoring their lawful national rights.
We should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and observe the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. China opposes hegemonism, power politics, unilateralism and Cold War mentality. A small number of countries have arbitrarily imposed illegal and unilateral sanctions, severely undermining the harmony and stability of international relations. The international community should jointly resist such acts. China firmly supports the Cuban people in their just struggle to defend their sovereignty and oppose external interference and blockade. We appreciate Cuba’s efforts to fight terrorism.
We should maintain security in both traditional and non-traditional domains. Nuclear war must not be fought, and nuclear weapons must not be used. China is the only country among the five permanent members of the Security Council that has pledged no-first-use of nuclear weapons. China attaches great importance to conventional arms control and will soon complete its ratification of the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms. Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. China will collaborate with the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in de-mining efforts, over the next three years, so as to help them eliminate mines at an early date. China supports the United Nations in serving as
the main channel to create a widely accepted artificial intelligence governance framework, standards and norms, on the basis of full respect for the governance principles and practices of all countries.
Secondly, we should pursue mutual benefit, deliver win-win outcomes and achieve development for all. Development should be placed at the centre of the international agenda, and development benefits should reach every country and individual in a fairer way. China will continue to contribute to building a global community of development.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by China. More than 3.000 cooperation projects have been launched under the framework of this initiative. The China-Europe Railway Express had 16.000 freight services in 2022. which fully demonstrates the vitality of the Belt and Road Initiative. Next month. China will host the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. We will further advance both Belt and Road cooperation and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
We should fully and effectively implement the Paris Agreement. Developed countries should do more to reduce emissions and provide developing countries with financing, technology and capacity-building support. China will continue to pursue ecological conservation on a priority basis, advance green and low-carbon development, stop building new coal-fired power projects abroad, vigorously support other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy and help them build more green energy projects. China will continue to actively respond to climate change.
Thirdly, we should stay open and inclusive and advance human civilization. Diversity of civilizations is an invaluable asset for human development; indeed, diversity is a defining feature of human civilization. Different countries and civilizations should prosper together by respecting each other, advance together by drawing on each other’s strengths and seek win-win outcomes by pursuing common ground, while setting aside differences.
Promoting and protecting human rights is a cause pursued by all countries, and ensuring a good life for people is the ultimate human right. As countries have different histories, traditions and conditions, we must and can only explore a path of human rights development suited to our national conditions in response to the needs of our people. We should advance the international human rights cause through dialogue and cooperation and oppose politicization and double standards, in particular through the use of human rights and democracy as a political tool to interfere in the affairs of other countries.
Fourthly, we should stay true to multilateralism and improve global governance. China is firm in supporting the international system, with the United Nations at its core. The United Nations should make advances in all the three pillar areas of security, development and human rights, in a balanced manner, and see that all countries jointly safeguard universal security, share development achievements and chart the course for the future of the world. Major countries should lead by example and deliver on their commitment to multilateralism.
Next year, the United Nations will hold the Summit of the Future. The international community should follow the direction of a multipolar world and democracy in international relations, use this occasion to promote reform in such areas as peace and security, economy, finance and trade in a coordinated manner, increase the representation and say of developing countries and make global governance more just and equitable.
In October, the Communist Party of China convened its Twentieth National Congress, at which an inspiring blueprint to achieve great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization was presented. Chinese modernization involves a huge population. It aims to deliver prosperity for all the Chinese people, promote ethical, material and cultural advancement, and achieve harmony between humankind and nature and a peaceful development. By pursuing Chinese modernization, we will promote world peace and development and make new and greater contributions to the advancement of human civilization.
China remains committed to more fully opening itself to the world. Today the Chinese economy is already an integral part of the global economy. We will continue to expand that by opening up in a systematic way in order to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, open the market further to foreign investment and protect the lawful rights and interests of foreign investors. We will continue to add new momentum to global economic development, and we welcome all countries to share in the opportunities and benefits created by China’s development.
China remains committed to an independent foreign policy. Independence is the defining feature of China’s diplomacy and defiance of hegemony is a distinctive feature of China’s diplomacy. No matter what stage
of development it reaches. China will never practice hegemony and expansion. China will uphold the common values of humankind — peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom — and will continue to advance a peaceful, open, cooperative and common development.
China remains committed to safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity. There is only one China in the world. The Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal Government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China’s territory since ancient times. No one and no force should ever underestimate the firm resolve, the strong will and the power of the Chinese people to safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Realizing China’s complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort.
China will remain a member of the large family of developing countries. As the largest developing country. China is a natural member of the global South. It breathes the same air as other developing countries and shares the same future with them. China is firm in upholding the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. It supports and respects their efforts to independently decide on their development paths, in keeping with their national conditions.
China will work unremittingly to promote the building of a community with a shared future for humankind, with a view to fulfilling the mission of a major country and responsibility for the future of humankind. China will work with all other peace-loving countries committed to development in order to deliver a brighter future for the world.