BEIJING, Sept. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — From Fiji to Lesotho and to Rwanda, Chinese technology of Juncao, which uses grass instead of wood to cultivate edible fungi, has been helping solve a significant challenge – the production of edible fungi had to rely on felling trees.
Just as Juncao is nicknamed “the grass of prosperity” by farmers in Lesotho, China has held 270 training sessions on the technology that trained over 10,000 people from 106 countries over the past 20 years.
In addition to Juncao, hybrid rice, roads, bridges, wells and other projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have seen solid progress in participating countries, helping locals live a happier and better life.
The BRI is a “vivid example” of building a global community of shared future, and a “global public good” and cooperation platform provided by China to the world, according to a white paper titled “A Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions” released on Tuesday.
This year marks the vision’s 10th anniversary as it was first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the vision has been supported by the wider international community.
It reflects the pursuit of peace, justice and progress by more and more countries and peoples, and their common aspirations for building a better world, said Wang.
China in action
Since the BRI was introduced 10 years ago, China has pursued “open, green, clean, and high-standard” cooperation to promote sustainable development and improve people’s lives.
According to Belt and Road Economics, a World Bank report, the BRI, when fully implemented, will increase intra-BRI trade by 4.1 percent. By 2030, the BRI will generate $1.6 trillion in annual global revenues.
“The BRI is an initiative for economic cooperation, not for geopolitical or military alliances,” reads the white paper. “It is an open and inclusive process that neither targets nor excludes any party.”
The initiative, which by July 2023 had seen more than three-quarters of countries in the world and over 30 international organizations joining, is not a “China club,” nor a “private route for any one party,” according to the newly-released document.
As the world’s largest developing country and a member of the Global South, China has made every effort to aid other developing countries and help recipient countries expand their capacity for development, endeavors supported through the Global Development Initiative.
In cooperation with international organizations, China has executed over 130 projects over poverty reduction, food security and climate change in nearly 60 countries including Ethiopia, Pakistan and Nigeria. That has benefited more than 30 million individuals, according to the white paper.
Speaking on Tuesday, Wang stressed the need to push development issues back to the core of the international agenda to benefit people of all countries in a more equitable manner.
In response to glaring security deficit, China, through the Global Security Initiative, seeks to create a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance, and win-win results over zero-sum game.
China also calls for jointly advocating respect for the diversity of civilizations through the Global Civilization Initiative. For example, it has carried out the Cultural Silk Road program, and established the Silk Road international theater, museum, art festival, library and art museum alliances.
‘One big family in global village’
Ten years on, the building of a global community of shared future has gained fruitful achievements. The vision has been written into United Nations Assembly Resolutions for six consecutive years and incorporated in several multilateral mechanism resolutions and declarations.
China has built communities of shared future with dozens of countries and regions, the Chinese foreign minister said on Tuesday. Wang added, the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative have gained support from over 100 countries, and the Global Civilization Initiative has received positive feedback from a number of countries.
However, he warned as humanity is at another crossroads in history, camp confrontation or zero-sum game has no prospects.
In the face of global crisis, as the white paper has made it clear, the 190-plus countries in the world are “all in the same big boat,” and all human beings are “one big family in this global village.”
“No country, however strong it may be, can do everything on its own. We must engage in global cooperation,” it read.
The vision of a global community of shared future, according to the white paper, rises above the exclusive rules of bloc politics, the notion of might makes right, and the “universal values” defined by a handful of Western countries.
“It conforms to the trend of the times, echoes the call for global cooperation, and contributes to a more just and equitable international order.”
