The Four Global Initiatives in China's Just and Equitable World Order

The international system is confronting a contradiction that can no longer be ignored. The challenges facing humanity have become increasingly global; war, economic fragmentation, climate change, artificial intelligence, food and energy insecurity, widening inequality and the digital divide; yet the institutions tasked with addressing them are struggling to keep pace. China’s white paper, More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China’s Principles, Proposals and Actions, enters this debate by arguing that the international system should not be dismantled, but reformed to better reflect the realities of a more multipolar world and give developing countries a greater voice in shaping international affairs.

At the centre of this vision are four initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping: the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI), Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI), and Global Governance Initiative (GGI). Taken individually, each addresses a different challenge. Taken together, they form a broader framework for how development, security, relations between civilisations and international governance should interact in the decades ahead. The white paper presents them as mutually reinforcing: development advances prosperity, security provides stability, civilisational exchange builds mutual trust, and governance seeks greater justice within the international system.

Development and security are inseparable

The Global Development Initiative responds to one of the most persistent failures of the existing international system: economic progress has not been distributed equally. The white paper points to continuing poverty, food insecurity, widening inequality and delays in achieving the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, arguing that development must once again occupy a central place in international cooperation. For Africa and the wider Global South, this principle is particularly important. Industrialisation, infrastructure, healthcare, technology, food security and access to global markets are not secondary issues; they are fundamental to long-term political and economic stability.

The GDI is also presented as a practical rather than purely conceptual initiative. According to the white paper, more than 130 countries and international organisations support participation, over 80 countries have joined its Group of Friends, and more than 1,800 cooperation projects have been launched. More than US$23 billion in various forms of development funding has also been mobilised. These figures are intended to demonstrate an approach focused on turning development commitments into tangible programmes.

The Global Security Initiative addresses the other side of the same equation. Its central proposition is that no country can achieve lasting security at the expense of another. China instead advocates what it describes as common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. This is increasingly relevant as traditional military conflict intersects with cyber threats, terrorism, biosecurity risks, climate change and food and energy insecurity. Security in the 21st century therefore cannot be understood only through alliances, weapons and deterrence. A country facing deep poverty, technological exclusion or severe climate vulnerability may remain politically sovereign yet profoundly insecure.

This is where the GDI and GSI converge: sustainable peace requires both the prevention of conflict and the economic and social conditions that reduce the causes of instability.

Civilisation and the challenge of difference

The Global Civilisation Initiative addresses a different but equally important concern: the growing tendency to frame international relations through ideological and cultural confrontation. China’s proposition is that civilisations should engage through equality, dialogue, inclusiveness and mutual learning rather than through claims of cultural or political superiority.

This approach has particular significance in an increasingly multipolar world. Greater multipolarity inevitably means greater diversity in political systems, cultures, histories and development models. The question is whether such differences become permanent fault lines or whether the international system can accommodate them. The GCI argues that difference need not lead to division and that dialogue can itself become a form of international stability.

The white paper points to the UN General Assembly’s designation of 10 June as the International Day for Dialogue Among Civilisations and to a range of international cultural and people-to-people platforms as examples of how this principle can be institutionalised.

Governance and the question of representation

The newest of the four initiatives, the Global Governance Initiative, brings these themes together at the institutional level. Proposed in 2025, it is built around five concepts: sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, a people-centred approach and real actions.

Perhaps its most consequential argument concerns representation. The economic geography of the world has changed considerably, but many of the institutions governing international affairs still reflect an earlier distribution of power. The white paper argues that the Global South now represents more than 60% of the world economy on a purchasing-power-parity basis and contributes 80% of global economic growth. At the same time, BRICS has expanded, emerging economies account for more than half of G20 membership, and developing nations are demanding a larger role in international decision-making.

For Africa, this argument is especially relevant. China supports reform of the UN Security Council to increase the representation of developing countries and specifically acknowledges Africa’s historical underrepresentation. It also calls for reforms within international financial institutions so that representation better reflects contemporary economic realities.

The point is not simply that developing countries should be consulted. It is that they should participate meaningfully in writing the rules.

Reform rather than replacement

One of the most important aspects of the white paper is that it does not advocate abandoning the United Nations or replacing the existing international system altogether. Instead, it argues that existing institutions should be reformed and improved.

The UN remains central to this vision, as do international law and multilateral cooperation. China’s argument is that the problem lies less in the existence of international rules than in their inconsistent application; less in multilateralism itself than in inadequate representation and effectiveness; and less in globalisation than in forms of globalisation that leave large parts of humanity behind.

For developing countries, these questions are not abstract. International financial rules influence access to development finance. Technology governance affects the digital divide. Climate obligations affect industrialisation. Trade rules determine market access. And representation within global institutions determines whose concerns are elevated to the international agenda.

The significance of the four Global Initiatives will therefore ultimately depend on implementation. The white paper itself recognises this through the GGI principle of “real actions”, arguing that global governance should be judged by whether it delivers measurable improvements in development, poverty reduction, digital inclusion and responses to shared crises.

A choice about the future of global governance

The four initiatives ultimately raise a larger question: what kind of international system should emerge as global economic and political influence shifts? The choice is between greater fragmentation and confrontation, or a reformed multilateral system that gives developing countries greater representation and treats development as a shared priority.

China’s position favours the latter. The four initiatives connect prosperity, peace, understanding and governance within a broader vision for international cooperation. As the Global South assumes greater economic and political influence, the challenge is to ensure that an increasingly multipolar world is also more inclusive, equitable and cooperative.

Ultimately, meaningful reform will depend on countries turning principles into practical cooperation and shared progress.

* Cole Jackson, BRICS+ Consulting Group, Director of International Relations