China’s GGI: The Path to Shared Leadership in a New Era
# Muna Chand
At the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus” meeting in September 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the Global Governance Initiative (GGI). This is the fourth important initiative launched by China, following the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI), and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). These four initiatives together indicate that they will become strategic pillars leading human civilization and international relations into a new era. The GGI proposal has not only been highly praised by the international community, but also actively supported. At a time when the world governance system is at a critical juncture of “move forward or step back”, this initiative presented by China is a timely step in line with the collective aspirations of mankind. This vividly demonstrates China’s great power responsibility.
The GGI concept paper highlights the turmoil taking place in the current international landscape. The United Nations (UN) and multilateralism are in a challenging situation. The global governance deficit is growing day by day. Three major weaknesses are evident. First, there is the underrepresentation of the Global South. Developing countries and emerging markets are collectively advancing in global politics and economics, but their voice in the institutional structure is still weak. This has perpetuated historical injustice. Second, there is a loss of authority. The purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations have not been adequately adhered to. The Security Council’s decision has been challenged. Some powers, including the US, have undermined international law and regulations through unilateral sanctions. Third, there is a lack of efficiency. The implementation of the 2030 SDG agenda has been delayed. There is a lack of governance system in climate change, the digital divide, artificial intelligence (AI), cyberspace, and outer space. The world community expects China to take responsibility for finding solutions to these challenges, and the GGI is a response to that expectation.
President Xi Jinping, speaking at SCO Plus, clarified the five core principles of GGI. Sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, a people-centered approach, and taking real actions. These five principles are not only fully consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, but also closely aligned with the current trend of international relations. Sovereign equality is a primary prerequisite for global governance, while the international rule of law is its fundamental safeguard. Multilateralism is the basic path, a people-centered approach is its value orientation, and practical action is the key principle to make global governance result-oriented.
The “rules-based order” promoted by Western powers is often the practice of imposing home-made rules on others. GGI strongly rejects this approach. This places the authority and role of the United Nations paramount. It clearly explains that rules are only international standards based on the UN Charter. Rejecting double standard, raises the issue of applying rules equally to all countries. Thus, the GGI introduced by China is not a new parallel system. Instead, it has emphasized making existing institutions more effective, increasing their implementation capacity, and making them particularly conducive to the interests of developing countries.
GGI is China’s fourth major initiative. All four initiatives are complementary to each other. GDI focuses on international development cooperation, GSI emphasizes resolving security issues through dialogue and consultation, GCI encourages exchanges and learning between civilizations, and GGI provides guidelines and guidance for improving global governance. All of these together provide a strategic foundation for China’s vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the largest developing country, has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to world development, a guardian of international law and order, and a provider of public goods. GGI is another important contribution to these roles. Through its initiatives, China has shown the world the path of unity, cooperation, and shared prosperity, not division.
President Xi Jinping has said: “In difficult times, we must uphold our early commitment to peaceful coexistence, strengthen our confidence in cooperation, and move forward with the flow of history.” The message is clear – humanity today is a community of shared destiny that has come closer together. No nation can solve challenges like climate change, economic crisis, pandemic, and digital divide alone. In this context, the GGI proposal is not only historical, but also future-oriented. It works to move nations towards common interests and shared responsibilities.
Today, the world is at a crossroads – on the one hand, polarization, competition, and a Cold War mentality; on the other, partnership, multilateralism, and shared prosperity. China’s GGI calls on the international community to choose the second path. It will reinvigorate global governance, give a voice to the Global South, and revive multilateralism. It shows the way to build a future based on equal participation and coexistence, without giving dominance to any one country. In this sense, China’s GGI is a ray of hope in today’s volatile world. This is not just China’s initiative, but a shared journey of all human civilization.
