President Xi Jinping has expounded on China's positions on major global issues at various diplomatic events in 2021, covering climate change, the fight against COVID-19, multilateralism and many other issues. Let's take a look.
Close immunization gap
As the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging globally, Xi called for joint efforts to advance anti-virus cooperation and promote economic recovery.
"We need to promote the research, production and fair distribution of vaccines, ensure their accessibility and affordability in developing countries, and close the immunization gap", Xi said at the 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting.
China has provided nearly 2 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, making China the largest vaccine exporter in the world.
It has also undertaken to offer $3 billion over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in developing countries.
At the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Xi said that to help Africa achieve its target of vaccinating 60 percent of its population by 2022, China will provide another 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the continent, among which 600 million doses will be donated and 400 million doses will be jointly produced by Chinese and local firms.
Building a community of all life on Earth
Xi reiterated the importance of man and nature coexisting in harmony at the COP15 United Nations biodiversity conference held in Kunming of China.
"When we take care to protect nature, nature rewards us generously; when we exploit nature ruthlessly, it punishes us without mercy," he said.
Xi announced China's initiative to establish a Kunming Biodiversity Fund, and the country took the lead by investing 1.5 billion yuan ($235 million) to support biodiversity protection in developing countries.
"The international community must enhance cooperation, build consensus, and pool strength to build a community of all life on Earth," he said.
"We need to solve the problems brought by industrial civilization, keep human activities within the limits of the ecology and environment, build a green, low-carbon and circular economic system, and translate ecological strengths into development strengths," Xi said.
Fighting climate change
In climate change response, Xi said "the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the cornerstone of global climate governance."
He called for developed countries to not only do more themselves, but also provide support to help developing nations do better in a written statement to the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference.
At the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Xi pledged that China will support other developing countries' green and low-carbon energy projects, and stop building new coal-fired power projects abroad, demonstrating the country's resolve to cut back on carbon emissions and curb global warming.
Xi also reaffirmed China's commitment to peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, with the time span of 30 years shorter than what might take many developed countries.
Global Development Initiative
At the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Xi proposed a Global Development Initiative in steering global development toward a new state of balanced, coordinated, and inclusive growth in face of the severe impact of COVID-19.
The initiative advocated a development pattern that benefits all, and cares about the special needs of developing countries.
"The pandemic has brought multiple crises to the world, developing countries in particular. The number of people living in hunger has reached around 800 million," Xi said.
He called for the global community to help developing countries, especially vulnerable ones facing exceptional difficulties, through means such as debt suspension and development aid, with emphasis on addressing unbalanced and inadequate development among and within countries.
"Implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is facing unprecedented challenges. In this context, we must take a people-centered approach, and make global development more equitable, effective and inclusive, so that no country will be left behind," Xi said.
At the G20 Leaders' Summit in Rome, Xi stressed the importance of infrastructure development in propelling economic growth. He said China has made unremitting efforts in this regard through Belt and Road cooperation and other initiatives.
Multilateralism
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China's lawful seat in the United Nations. At a meeting commemorating the event, Xi said the world should "be firm in opposing all forms of hegemony and power politics, as well as all forms of unilateralism and protectionism."
Xi said China will stay committed to the path of multilateralism and always be a defender of the international order.
"Multilateralism is essentially about having international affairs managed by all parties through consultation and the future of the world decided by all countries working together," Xi said.
"Countries should uphold the international system with the UN at its core, the international order underpinned by international law and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter," he said.
At the APEC CEO Summit, Xi said China will continue to practice true multilateralism, uphold the WTO-centered multilateral trading system, and promote the building of an open world economy.
Innovation
Xi has also stressed the importance of innovation in driving global development.
Innovation is a decisive factor in promoting economic and social development and in addressing the common challenges to humanity, Xi said at the G20 Rome summit.
"We need to seize the historic opportunities created by the latest round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, redouble efforts to harness technological achievements to boost productivity," Xi said at the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly.
Forming exclusive blocs or even drawing ideological lines will only cause division and create more obstacles, which will do no good but only harm to scientific and technological innovation, he said.
"Scientific and technological advances should benefit all humanity rather than be used to curb and contain other countries' development," Xi said.
Opening wider
As unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise and economic globalization is facing headwinds, China is committed to its opening up strategy, Xi said at the opening ceremony of the fourth China International Import Expo.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the World Trade Organization. China has fully delivered on its accession commitments, with the overall tariff rate cut from 15.3 percent to 7.4 percent.
Since joining the WTO, China has kept opening wider to the world, thus generating a new wave of domestic development while injecting fresh impetus into the world economy, Xi said.
"We will not change our resolve to open wider at a higher standard... and we will not change our commitment to an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all," Xi said.
He said the hosting of CIIE is a testimony to China's resolve to share its market opportunities with the rest of the world.
"In this age of economic globalization, openness and integration is an unstoppable historical trend. Attempts to 'erect walls' or 'decouple' run counter to the law of economics and market principles," Xi said at Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2021.
Building a new type of international relations
As the largest developing country in the world, China is a staunch follower of an independent foreign policy of peace, and it advocates democracy in international relations, Xi indicated.
"Zero-sum game or winter-takes-all is not the guiding philosophy of the Chinese people," Xi said at the World Economic Forum Event of Davos Agenda.
He stressed that a world of peace and development should embrace civilizations of various forms, and must accommodate diverse paths to modernization.
"No country in the world is superior to others and every civilization is special and unique to its own region," Xi said at the conference marking the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the China in the United Nations.
"Democracy is a not a special right reserved to an individual country. The recent developments in the global situation show that military intervention from the outside and so-called democratic transformation entail nothing but harm," Xi said.
"Whether a country's path of development works is judged, first and foremost, by whether it fits the country's conditions, whether it brings about economic growth, social advancement, better livelihoods and social stability," Xi said.
Global community with a shared future
Building a community with a shared future for mankind is another hot word in Xi's diplomatic speeches.
"The human race is an integral community and Earth is our common homeland...We should keep moving toward a community with a shared future for mankind," Xi said at the conference marking the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China's lawful seat in the UN.
"Viewed from the perspective of 'my own country first,' the world is a cramped and crowded place perpetuated in fierce competition. Viewed from the perspective of 'a global community of a shared future,' the world is a vast and broad place full of cooperation opportunities," Xi said at the CPC and World Political Parties Summit.
He said "To build a community with a shared future for mankind is not to replace one system or civilization with another. Instead, it is about countries with different social systems, ideologies, histories, cultures and levels of development coming together for shared interests, shared rights and shared responsibilities in global affairs."