China committed to championing better governance

As a member of the Global South, China has been committed to championing the common interests of developing countries in global affairs and contributing to better global governance, global analysts say.

The Global South, comprising emerging market economies and developing countries, has become more active in engaging in global governance, with the recent G20's inclusion of the African Union and BRICS' expansion of six additional members. And these are closely related to China's active promotion, as China has been pushing for more countries of the Global South to join the global governance platform to better address global challenges together, they said.

Clayton Hazvinei Vhumbunu, a senior lecturer in the department of political studies and governance at the University of the Free State in South Africa, said China has been actively and openly pushing for the reforms of many institutions of global governance in solidarity with Africa, including supporting the inclusion of the AU in G20 and admission of African countries into BRICS, the grouping of major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Despite facing several political and diplomatic obstacles that have stymied progress for a long time now, China's continued investment of efforts toward promoting equitable global representation in global governance, inclusive multilateralism and democratization of international relations remains commendable, he said.

Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business, said China has made great achievements in the past few decades, and has lifted nearly 800 million people out of poverty.

"The country has become an example of success, and its experience will be helpful for other countries," he said.

The precepts adopted by the Chinese government are appropriate to implement a new scenario of multilateralism, actions for peaceful resolution of international incidents, socioeconomic development and greater harmonization with the environment, he added.

Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, said China, as a developing country, "has stood with and continues to champion the rights of other developing countries, especially those from the Global South".

The initiatives launched and proposed by China to support development programs among emerging economies have proved that China is "a leading champion of rights of weak states", Adhere said.

Stiff resistance

However, Vhumbunu said it has to be acknowledged that any agenda and attempts to reform the existing global governance architecture is naturally bound to face stiff resistance from some global powers and players, because institutions of global governance are always at the center of the struggle and contestation for power, influence and control.

For some time, some Western politicians and media have tried to exclude China from the Global South, with the aim of isolating China.

Tang Xiaoyang, dean of the international relations department at Tsinghua University, said China is actually a leader in the rise of the Global South, and is actively promoting the rise of other Global South countries.

Moreover, after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US-led West tried to coerce Global South countries to choose sides, but a large number of them resisted. They insist on their own diplomatic independence, and strengthen the political stance of "nonalignment".

China adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence: Mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual nonaggression, noninterference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

"The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are in line with the ideas of the rest of the Global South, and are quite sympathetic to the fundamental principles of anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism," Tang said.

China has always supported South-South cooperation and remains a developing country, despite the rapid economic development in the past few decades, he said. It actively supports globalization and multilateralism, and also has rich developing experiences that it would be happy to share with other countries.

As a key link in the world industrial chain, China is indispensable to the economic development of developing countries, he said.

"China would continue to seek closer ties with other developing countries to push forward sustainable economic development and common prosperity under frameworks such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative," he said.