(Source: Guangming Daily 2026-03-07)

Currently, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change. Unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise. Structural imbalances in the global governance system have become increasingly prominent. Global challenges such as climate change, debt crisis, and digital divide are intertwined and overlapping. Countries in the Global South are facing multiple obstacles to their development. As the core force promoting multipolarity, countries in the Global South account for more than 85% of the world's population, nearly 60% of the total economic output calculated on purchasing power parity basis, and contribute as much as 80% to global economic growth. However, they have long faced the dilemma of mismatching their voice and development strength in the global governance system. Against this background, the global governance initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping takes the core concepts of adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating people-centeredness, and focusing on action orientation as its core concepts, accurately responds to the development demands of countries in the global South, and provides Chinese solutions for countries in the global South to solve development problems and activate development potential.

Talk directly to the problem of imbalance in the governance system

The structural flaws of the traditional global governance system are concentrated in the "mismatch between power and contribution, and the asymmetry between responsibilities and resources", which squeezes the development space of countries in the Global South from the institutional level. In the core institutions of international financial governance, the distribution of voice is still dominated by the West. The United States holds 16.5% of the voting rights in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and dominates major decisions with its veto power. However, the total voting rights of African countries in the organization are less than 7%, and the total voting rights of the entire Global South in institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank are less than 40%. This lack of voice makes it difficult for countries in the Global South to express their demands in the formulation of international financial rules and the design of debt relief mechanisms, and falls into the unfavorable situation of "passive acceptance".

The Global Governance Initiative directly addresses the institutional flaws of the traditional governance system and provides conceptual guidance and practical paths for countries in the Global South to strive for a fair institutional environment. Adhering to sovereign equality has consolidated the foundation of global governance, emphasized that countries are equal regardless of their size, strength or weakness, rich or poor, and promoted the reform of international governance institutions in a more balanced direction. Practicing multilateralism provides a path for countries in the Global South to gather collective strength. The SCO "circle of friends" continues to expand and has become an important platform for countries in the Global South to participate in global governance. China maintains close collaboration with the Group of 77 and jointly speaks out in areas such as ocean governance and climate change to promote the evolution of international rules in a more reasonable direction. Complying with international rule of law requires all countries to jointly safeguard the unified application of international law, oppose double standards and imposition, and create a stable and predictable international development environment for countries in the Global South. Implementing global governance initiatives will help countries in the Global South transform from "governed objects" to "governing subjects" and remove institutional obstacles to their development by enhancing their collective voice.

Building a new environment for fair and inclusive development

The Global Governance Initiative directly addresses the crux of inequality in the traditional global governance system, and uses five core concepts to build a fair, inclusive, multilateral and win-win new development environment for countries in the Global South, so that developing countries can truly become participants, builders, and beneficiaries of global governance. The pursuit of sovereign equality emphasizes that all countries enjoy equal rights to international participation and decision-making, providing theoretical support and practical compliance for countries in the Global South to strive for the right to speak. Driven by China, the BRICS mechanism has achieved historic expansion from 5 to 10 members in 2024. After the expansion, the BRICS countries account for nearly half of the world's population, 21% of the world's total w88 in goods, and their economic aggregate has surpassed the G7 in terms of purchasing power parity. It has become an important platform for global southern countries to build consensus and make joint voices. The development of the BRICS mechanism is a vivid practice of the global governance initiative's pursuit of sovereign equality, allowing more countries in the Global South to have more say in global governance.

Practicing multilateralism and abiding by international rule of law provide important guarantees for countries in the Global South to resist the impact of unilateralism and safeguard their own development rights and interests. The Global Governance Initiative advocates the concept of global governance based on extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, opposes double standards and hegemonic behavior, and encourages all countries to jointly uphold international law and international rules. In international occasions such as the United Nations Climate Change Conference and the WTO Ministerial Conference, China has always stood together with countries in the Global South to jointly oppose the actions of some Western countries to politicize climate issues and use w88 rules to erect barriers. It has promoted the return of climate governance to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" and promoted WTO reform to tilt toward safeguarding the interests of developing countries. The cooperation mechanism between the Group of 77 and China continues to deepen, forming a pattern of coordinated efforts in international development, w88, climate and other fields. Implementing global governance initiatives will help promote the transformation of global southern countries from "decentralized voice" to "collective action", develop and strengthen the power of multilateralism, and gradually form a fair and inclusive international development environment.

Consolidating the foundation for the development of the Global South

Development is the core aspiration of countries in the Global South. However, problems such as weak infrastructure, lack of development technology, and single industrial structure have always been practical problems that restrict the development of countries in the Global South. To this end, the Global Governance Initiative focuses on action orientation and advocates the core concept of people-centeredness, returning the focus of global governance to the development needs of people of all countries, and promoting the transformation of global governance from "capital-led" to "people's livelihood-oriented". China actively implements global governance initiatives, starting from green development, digital economy, infrastructure construction, public health protection and other governance areas closely related to the development of the Global South. Through practical measures such as technology sharing, project cooperation, and capacity building, it lays a solid foundation for sustainable development for countries in the Global South, so that governance results can truly benefit the people of all countries.

In the field of green development, China has signed 53 memorandums of understanding on South-South cooperation on climate change with 42 developing countries, and has taken the lead in investing 1.5 billion yuan to establish the Kunming Biodiversity Fund to help developing countries protect biodiversity; the Dea Wind Power Project in South Africa provides local supplies of 7 .600 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity. The Karawang 100-MW photovoltaic project in Indonesia has become a local green energy benchmark. The Karuma Hydropower Station has helped Uganda become a regional power supply hub. A series of green technology cooperation projects have helped countries in the global South gradually get rid of their dependence on traditional fossil energy and embark on a green and low-carbon development path. In the field of digital economy, in order to bridge the digital divide between the North and the South, China proposed in December 2025 to launch 200 digital economy and artificial intelligence training projects for countries in the Global South to create a "Digital South" brand, promote digital technology to empower agricultural production, inclusive education, disaster early warning and other fields, and deeply integrate the countries of the Global South into the global digital development pattern. In the field of infrastructure construction, iconic projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed ​​Railway and the China-Laos Railway were completed and opened to traffic, rewriting the transportation pattern of the host countries. The AIIB's infrastructure loans cover many livelihood projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other regions, effectively making up for the infrastructure shortcomings of countries in the global South.

The remarkable growth of the Global South is an important cornerstone for maintaining world peace and development, and an inevitable requirement for building a community with a shared future for mankind. The global governance initiative is based on the development reality of countries in the Global South. It uses institutional reforms to break down development barriers, uses multilateral cooperation to gather synergy for development, and uses pragmatic measures to consolidate the foundation for development. It has opened up new space for countries in the Global South to achieve independent development and common development. Today, with a century of changes accelerating, more and more countries in the Global South are actively participating in the practice of global governance initiatives and continuously deepening South-South cooperation, which will help jointly solve development problems, resist global risks, promote the development of the global governance system in a more just, inclusive, and sustainable direction, so that development results can benefit people of all countries more and more equitably, and jointly draw a beautiful picture of the common development of mankind.

(Authors: Wang Bo and Zhai Dayu, both are special researchers at the Beijing Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and are respectively professor and associate professor at the w88 casino)

Original link: