China Institute of International Studies: Bringing Much-Needed Stability to a Turbulent World

The Global Security Initiative (GSI) represents the latest theoretical innovation in Xi Jinping thought on diplomacy in the sphere of international security. It charts a course for addressing humanity’s peace deficit, responding to international security challenges, and achieving lasting peace for our world. Over the past three years, the contents of the GSI have been steadily enriched and refined, and solid strides have been made toward its implementation. On the international stage, the GSI has helped generate a healthy trend of pursuing common security through solidarity and cooperation. It has ignited hope for resolving the various security challenges we face and created a wave of collective momentum for improving global security governance. There is no doubt that the GSI can guide humanity toward a more peaceful and tranquil future.

This aerial photograph taken on March 21, 2025, shows the permanent venue of the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan Province. PHOTO BY CNS REPORTER LUO YUNFEI

I

The world we live in at present is a mix of turbulence and transformation. Local conflicts and upheaval occur frequently, hegemony and power politics have grown rampant, and traditional and non-traditional security threats have become intertwined. In many cases, security challenges escalate into transregional or global crises, the likes of which are encountered once only every few decades or even centuries, posing significant threats to the cause of peace and development. 

What then are the prospects for global peace? Facing this question of our times and this challenge for our world, President Xi Jinping put forward the GSI. This initiative provides clear answers to the defining questions of our day: What kind of security concepts does the world need? How can countries achieve common security? It offers Chinese insights on how we can eliminate humanity’s peace deficit and provides Chinese solutions for addressing international security challenges.

Inheriting the distinctive diplomatic traditions and insights of Chinese diplomacy 

As President Xi has pointed out, both China and its people are peace-loving. This peaceful nature is, in fact, one of the defining features of Chinese civilization. Throughout the ages, the Chinese nation has cherished the ideas of harmony being precious, of peace reigning among all nations, and of championing empathy and non-aggression.

As a responsible major country, China has consistently upheld the principles of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, playing its due role in safeguarding world peace and security. In 1954, China issued joint statements with India and Burma (now Myanmar) respectively, in which they jointly called for the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to become the guiding norms for relations between states. These five principles categorically oppose imperialism, colonialism, and hegemonism, reject the law of the jungle, and transcend outdated and confrontational thinking such as bloc politics. They charted a new path that enabled countries to interact in the right way and resolve international disputes peacefully.

Today, China remains the only country in the world that has enshrined the notion of peaceful development in its national constitution. It is the only one of the five nuclear-weapon states that has publicly pledged that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons. It has signed or acceded to more than 20 multilateral arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation treaties, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Trade Treaty.

Embodying President Xi’s profound insights on world peace and security issues in the new era 

In March 2013, during a speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, President Xi pointed out, “We stand for security that is shared by all countries and peoples. Countries should work together to address appropriately different issues and challenges. The more global challenges we face, the more we need to cooperate in our response, together turning pressure into motivation and crises into opportunities. Faced with complex security threats, fighting alone is of no use, and putting blind faith in military force won’t get anyone anywhere. Cooperative security, collective security, and common security constitute the only correct choice for solving these issues.”

At the 2014 Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia in Shanghai, President Xi proposed a new vision of shared, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security. He called for cooperative approaches to security issues and for efforts to address both symptoms and root causes through multi-pronged strategies. This stance was widely endorsed within the international community. Since then, President Xi’s repeated advocacy for this new security concept at bilateral and multilateral venues such as the United Nations and G20 has enabled the idea of peaceful cooperation—turning swords into plowshares to achieve common security for all—to steadily take root in people’s minds. 

A natural product of the efforts to enrich and develop the concept of a global community of shared future 

In September 2015, President Xi delivered a major statement at the UN General Assembly in New York. He systematically expounded on the main elements of a global community of shared future, which includes fostering “a security layout featuring fairness, justice, joint contribution, and shared benefits.”

In January 2017, during a speech at the UN Office in Geneva, President Xi further refined this concept with a proposal to build an “open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security, and shared prosperity.” Key elements of this vision fall within the realm of peace and security. Therefore, to build a global community of shared future, we must also inevitably create a community of common security.

Some 700 soldiers from the Ninth Chinese Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion in Juba, South Sudan, receive the UN Peace Medal of Honor in recognition of their outstanding services and contribution to the cause of peace in South Sudan, September 28, 2023. The awards ceremony was held at the Super Camp of the UN Mission in the country. China has firmly supported the UN in playing a greater role in responding to peace and security challenges and faithfully fulfilled its responsibilities and missions as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. XINHUA / PHOTO BY ZHAO JIANYI

In November 2020, at the 20th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), President Xi issued a call for joint efforts to build communities of health, security, development, and cultural exchanges in order to advance the building of a global community of shared future through more concrete steps.

It was during a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in April 2022 that President Xi formally proposed the GSI. In his address, he emphasized that humanity is living in an indivisible security community and elaborated on the core concepts of the GSI, namely the “Six Commitments.” 

These six commitments are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, forming a well-balanced and organic whole that aims to safeguard world peace and tranquility. Among them, the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security provides conceptual guidance; respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries is the basic premise; abiding by them purposes and principles of the UN Charter is a fundamental benchmark; taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously is an important principle; peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation is the necessary path; and maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains is an inherent requirement. 

The GSI was proposed to meet the pressing need of the international community to maintain world peace and prevent conflicts and wars, represent the common aspiration of all countries to uphold multilateralism and international solidarity, and reflect the shared desire of all peoples to jointly overcome difficulties and build a better world. The GSI echoes and reinforces the Global Development Initiative and Global Civilizations Initiative, also proposed by President Xi. It accords with the prevailing trends of peace, development, and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Thereafter, President Xi further expounded on the details of the GSI during important overseas visits and various international and regional multilateral occasions, including the BRICS Summit, the G20 Summit, the conference marking the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. He encouraged members of the international community to approach global security issues from a more holistic perspective and act on the GSI to collectively address security challenges. The inclusion of the GSI in key political documents of the CPC and China’s foreign-related laws, including the report to the 20th CPC National Congress and the Law on Foreign Relations, has elevated it into a commitment for both the CPC and the state. This demonstrates the readiness of both China, as a responsible major country, and the Communist Party of China, as a large political party in one of the world’s largest countries, to shoulder their due missions and responsibilities.

II

Originating in China and oriented toward the world, the GSI takes the call of the times as its guide. By building international consensus and synergy, it has steadily become an effective solution and pathway for eliminating the security deficit in our world and tackling security challenges. Since its proposal, China has worked with the international community to implement the initiative, achieving notable progress in four major areas.

First, firmly supporting the UN’s central role in global security governance 

The purposes and principles of the UN Charter are the product of profound reflection by people around the world on the bitter lessons of the two world wars. They embody humanity’s institutional design for achieving collective security and lasting peace. As President Xi has noted, the various confrontations and injustices we see in the world today have occurred not because the purposes and principles of the UN Charter are outdated, but because they have not been effectively implemented. During in-depth discussions with leaders of the UN and other multilateral institutions on multiple occasions, President Xi has continued to elaborate on the core concepts of the GSI and expressed firm support for the UN in playing a greater role in responding to peace and security challenges.

On China's initiative, the UN Security Council held an open meeting on strengthening dialogue and cooperation and promoting common security, as well as an open debate on maintaining peace through common development. Such discussions have encouraged all sides to approach security issues from a broader and more thorough perspective. China actively participated in formulating the New Agenda for Peace and other policies put forth in UN Secretary-General António Guterres's report, Our Common Agenda. It strongly supported and fully engaged in consultations on the 2024 Summit of the Future convened by the UN, and facilitated the successful conclusion of the Pact for the Future, which has delivered a powerful message on upholding multilateralism, strengthening solidarity and cooperation, and jointly promoting peace and security.

As the second largest contributor to peacekeeping assessments and the UN regular budget, as well as the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, China supports the UN in its efforts to prevent war and conflict, develop peace-building architecture, and promote post-war reconstruction. Since 2022, China has dispatched UN peacekeepers, staff officers, and military observers to mission areas in countries such as South Sudan, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mali, as well as UN headquarters. It has also dispatched peacekeeping police officers to carry out missions in Cyprus, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and other countries. The Chinese government also supports the efforts of the UN General Assembly, relevant UN Committees, the Security Council, and other global intergovernmental multilateral institutions to foster consensus on security and promote world peace.

Second, enhancing coordination and positive interaction with other major countries to safeguard world stability 

In response to certain countries, attempts to stoke major-power strategic competition and bloc confrontation in recent years, China has stressed that major countries shoulder particularly important responsibilities for maintaining international peace and security. Taking an unequivocal stance against major-power competition and confrontation, it has worked to advance the implementation of the GSI and build major-country relationships featuring peaceful coexistence, overall stability, and balanced development.

We have promoted comprehensive strategic coordination in China-Russia relations, working to ensure global strategic stability. Under the strategic guidance of both countries, leaders, China and Russia have transcended the military-political alliances of the Cold War era. They have identified the right way for two big neighbors to get along by building relations that feature non-alliance and non confrontation and that do not target any third party. Russia has repeatedly expressed its admiration and support for the GSI. In joint statements, leaders of both countries have stressed their determination to continue their close cooperation on regional and global security affairs and jointly act on the GSI.

We have enhanced strategic trust in China-Europe relations, with the two sides jointly resisting bloc confrontation, which runs counter to the prevailing trends of the times. China has always regarded Europe as an important pole in a multipolar world. It supports both the integration of Europe and the strategic independence of the EU. Since the proposal of the GSI, China and Europe have reached multiple consensuses on various issues, such as securing a political resolution to the Ukraine crisis, reaffirming the important formula that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, safeguarding global food and energy security, providing humanitarian aid, and addressing the situation in the Middle East.

A medical practitioner from the Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark informs a patient about eye care during humanitarian activities in Cameroon, October 10, 2024. In recent years, China has held fast to the vision of a global community of shared future. It has fully acted on the Global Security Initiative, fulfilled its responsibilities in safeguarding world peace, and pursued common security through solidarity and cooperation, working in tandem with all countries to build a world of lasting peace and common security. XINHUA / PHOTO BY LIU ZHILEI

We have promoted overall stability in China-US relations. In response to the US defining China-US relations within a framework of strategic competition, China has consistently emphasized that major-country competition should not be the prevailing trend of our times, that a new Cold War should not be fought and cannot be won, and that containing China is unwise, unacceptable, and bound to fail. Both sides should explore the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other. China is committed to advancing bilateral relations based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to promote the steady, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations. At the same time, China has also taken concrete actions to counter arbitrary suppression by the US and resolutely defend our country’s sovereignty, security, and development interests.

Third, promoting political solutions to international and regional hotspot issues

At present, regional hotspot issues and local conflicts are flaring up frequently, becoming persistent problems that undermine global security. One important mission of the GSI is to identify pathways for resolving differences and disputes between countries. The GSI is committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously and peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation. It strives to realize universal security and common security by working to properly resolve hotspot issues such as the Ukraine crisis and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Since the full escalation of the Ukraine crisis, China has, based on the principles of objectivity and impartiality, actively promoted peace talks and searched for a solution that addresses both the symptoms and root causes of the issue. President Xi has held calls and meetings with leaders from Russia, Germany, France, the EU, and the US, engaging in a broad exchange of views on the evolving situation and calling for an early and peaceful settlement to the crisis. In September 2024, China and Brazil jointly launched the Group of Friends for Peace on the Ukraine Crisis, along with some other countries from the Global South, with the aim of creating an atmosphere and conditions for reaching a political solution to the crisis. The evolving situation has shown China’s position to be objective, impartial, rational, pragmatic, and representative of the prevailing consensus in the international community.

China has put forward and promoted the implementation of the following five-point proposal on realizing peace and stability in the Middle East: advocating mutual respect, upholding equity and justice, achieving non-proliferation, jointly fostering collective security, and accelerating cooperation on development, so as to jointly establish a new security framework in the Middle East. In March 2023, China successfully facilitated a reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with both countries announcing the restoration of diplomatic relations. This accomplishment has set off a wave of reconciliation across the region. In response to the recent conflict between Palestine and Israel, China galvanized efforts at the UN Security Council to adopt the first resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza. It also brought together Palestinian factions for reconciliation talks. The result of these talks was the adoption of the Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity. Furthermore, China has provided multiple batches of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and it will continue to make unremitting efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting resolution to the Palestinian issue.

China has also actively mediated other regional hotspot issues. It has facilitated multiple rounds of peace talks between parties to the conflict in Myanmar and supported Afghanistan in building an inclusive political framework and realizing peace and reconstruction. It remains committed to upholding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. It has continued to promote talks on resuming compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear issue. It has also worked to strengthen China-Africa security cooperation under the GSI framework by promoting the alignment of security philosophies and policies and supporting Africa in addressing security challenges.

Fourth, adopting a holistic approach to conventional and non-conventional security threats

The GSI attaches great importance to the interconnected, transnational, and diverse nature of security issues. It stresses the need for a multi-pronged and holistic approach to address diverse security threats and advance global security governance.

In recent years, certain states and military alliances have continued to elevate the role of nuclear weapons in their national and collective security policies. They have reinforced nuclear sharing arrangements, extended deterrence commitments, and upgraded nuclear weapons. This has significantly heightened the risks of a nuclear arms race and nuclear conflict. As President Xi has repeatedly emphasized, nuclear weapons must never be used, and a nuclear war must never be fought. Guided by the GSI, China has actively promoted the implementation of the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races issued in January 2022. It has called for nuclear-weapon states to negotiate and conclude a treaty on mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons. In 2024, as chair of the P5 mechanism, China hosted working-level meetings and nuclear policy dialogues among the five nuclear-weapon states to uphold the consensus that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.

In non-conventional security domains, such as terrorism, information, biosecurity, outer space, artificial intelligence, public health, and transnational crime, China continues to deepen cooperation with relevant parties. In June 2023, the first China-Pakistan-Iran trilateral consultation on counterterrorism and security was successfully held. The meeting marked a successful step by the three countries to act on the GSI and enhance regional security and stability. China has also launched the Global Initiative on Data Security and the Global AI Governance Initiative to promote improved rules of governance on new frontiers such as artificial intelligence, the deep sea, polar regions, and outer space. China actively carried out initiatives to combat cross-border crimes, including online gambling, telecom and cyber fraud, drug and human trafficking, terrorism, cybercrime, and weapons smuggling. Notably, the police forces of China, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos have jointly launched special regional campaigns against gambling and fraud groups, as well as operations targeting telecom and cyber fraud crimes involving Chinese nationals in northern Myanmar. This has helped ensure regional public security and protect people’s lives and property.

III

The GSI works for the greater good of all and has thus won widespread support. By seeking to protect the common interests of humanity and safeguard world peace and stability, it has effectively built international consensus and synergy for addressing security risks and challenges. By the end of 2024, the GSI had garnered support from 119 countries and international organizations and had been written into over 110 bilateral and multilateral cooperation documents between China and other countries and international organizations. Indeed, the initiative continues to win more and more supporters and partners.

The GSI and its core concepts have received high praise from UN agency heads and have been incorporated into relevant multilateral mechanism documents. In September 2023, the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, initiated by UN member states, issued a political declaration that incorporated core concepts of the GSI, including the principle of indivisible security. During his visit to China in May 2023, IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi spoke highly of the GSI, declaring that we can only achieve harmony when world leaders engage in stronger dialogue and seek common ground.

At the regional level, China is working with relevant parties to create a template for GSI cooperation. China is actively advancing cooperation with Lancang–Mekong countries to set up a pilot zone for the GSI. It is working with Central Asian countries to build a China-Central Asia community of shared future that is conflict-free and enjoys enduring peace. These efforts are aimed at establishing a new regional security and cooperation architecture and pursuing a path for Asia that ensures security for all, by all, and of all. China has also worked to ensure that the GSI is complementary with and mutually reinforces cooperation under the frameworks of the SCO and BRICS. These efforts have enabled the SCO to address various security challenges in a coordinated manner as it works to build a community of shared future. They have also facilitated more fruitful results through greater BRICS cooperation on security. Furthermore, China has joined with African countries to carry out the Partnership Action for Common Security, making it a key initiative for implementing the GSI and a fine example of GSI cooperation.

At the bilateral level, more and more countries are signing up to the GSI. China has issued joint statements or reached important consensus on promoting the GSI with Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, UAE, Iran, Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Solomon Islands, Fiji, among other countries. Some countries such as the Central African Republic have also expressed their gratitude for China’s valuable support in restoring peace and stability, and are ready to serve as pioneers in translating the GSI into reality.

On the new journey ahead, China will continue to stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human civilization and progress. We are ready to join hands with all other peace-loving countries and peoples committed to development. Guided by the GSI, we will work with our partners to enrich this initiative, exploring new forms and areas of cooperation in order to safeguard peace and forge a better future for all humanity, thereby ensuring that the torch of peace is passed on from generation to generation and the sound of peace echoes throughout the world.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 7, 2025)

 Source: English Edition of Qiushi Journal