Background on GSI
In his quest to ensure the wellbeing and betterment of the global community, Chinese President Xi Jinping, on April 21, 2022, delivered a keynote speech via video at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 where he proposed what is today known as the GSI. GSI, as the acronyms shows, is interrelated to President Xi’s Global Development Initiative (GDI) which he tabled before the world during the 76th United Nations General Assembly which held in September, 2021, in New York, United States. While the GDI was a response to the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, GSI came handy in responding to the challenges posed to the international community by the crisis in Ukraine.
Xi, in his remarks, said: “Right now, changes of the world, of our times and of history are unfolding in ways like never before. These changes are posing challenges that must be taken seriously by humanity. We have yet to walk from the shadow of a once-in-a-century pandemic, but new traditional security risks are already emerging. The weak and faltering global economic recovery is compounded by a widening development gap. While governance deficit in areas like climate change has hardly been addressed, new issues such as digital governance are also vying for attention. Viewed in such a context, the theme of this year’s Annual Conference “The World in COVID-19 and Beyond: Working Together for Global Development and Shared Future” cannot be more relevant.”
Continuing, Xi told the audience that for the world to break through the mist and embrace a bright future, the biggest strength comes from cooperation and the most effective way is through solidarity.
Xi said: “Over the past two years and more, the international community has been working extremely hard to respond to the COVID-19 challenge and boost global recovery and development. The hardships and challenges are yet another reminder that humanity is a community with a shared future where all people rise and fall together, and that all countries need to follow the trend of the times featuring peace, development and win-win cooperation, move in the direction of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and rise to challenges and build a bright future through cooperation.”
Contents of GSI
According to Xi, it is important that the world stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and work together to maintain world peace and security. By staying committed, Xi referred to staying committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, uphold non-interference in internal affairs, and respect the independent choices of development paths and social systems made by people in different countries.
In staying committed, Xi also meant abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, reject the Cold War mentality, oppose unilateralism, and say no to group politics and bloc confrontation; stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously, uphold the principle of indivisible security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and oppose the pursuit of one’s own security at the cost of others’ security.
Staying committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation, support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises, reject double standards, and oppose the wanton use of unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction; stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains, and work together on regional disputes and global challenges such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity and biosecurity were all that XI espoused in his GSI proposal.
Significance of GSI and China’s Practice
This major Initiative was proposed to meet the pressing need of the international community to maintain world peace and prevent conflicts and wars; to meet the common aspirations of all countries to uphold multilateralism and international solidarity; and to meet the shared desire of all peoples for working together to overcome difficulties and build a better world beyond the pandemic.
The GSI takes root in New China’s independent foreign policy of peace and the practices of this policy. It is inspired by the diplomatic tradition and wisdom with unique Chinese characteristics. Over the years, as a responsible major country, China has held high, the banner of peace, development and cooperation for win-win results, and made active contributions to upholding global peace and security, setting a prime example as a major country.
China’s GDP grows 4.8 percent in Q1
Despite downward pressure, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown at 4.8 percent in Q1. In Q1 of 2022, China’s GDP expanded 4.8 percent from a year earlier, showing a better-than-expected performance and surpassing the four percent recorded in Q4 2021, as per data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Despite challenges from fresh COVID-19 outbreaks and geopolitical uncertainties, China’s economy continues to recover.
China’s GDP grew 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, maintaining a stable growth range despite the unprecedented downward pressure since the first quarter of 2020 due to COVID-19 flare-ups, supply chain snags and external uncertainties arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The economic expansion in the first three months accelerated from the four-percent growth rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021, buoyed by stratospheric infrastructure and property investment – a bright spot that had buffered subdued consumption and weakened factory production in the first quarter and is expected to buttress whole-year growth of the world’s second-largest economy. In a related development, retail sales of consumer goods increased by 3.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.
Economic and financial observers estimated that the situation in Shanghai, China’s main financial center, and its knock-on effects on the country’s most vibrant manufacturing base Yangtze River Delta had likely undercut the country’s first-quarter GDP by 0.5 percentage points, and such effect on growth could further deteriorate in April and May, with a restorative rebound likely to surface in June and the second half after the epidemic is brought under effective control.
In the first quarter, China’s industrial output grew 6.5 percent year-on-year, according to data released by NBS. Retail sales grew 3.3 percent on a yearly basis in the period. However, in March alone, the number fell 3.5 percent from a year ago, the first contraction since July 2020, reversing a 6.7 percent rise in the January-February period.
Growth in fixed-asset investment was 9.3 percent in the first three months, with investment in infrastructure up 8.5 percent year-on-year. The first-quarter data has improved from the last three months of 2021, gauging from certain indexes. Fixed-asset investment jumped significantly on a quarter-to-quarter basis, thanks to adjustments in property policy and a pick-up in manufacturing investment.
Fourth Brand and Quality Online Shopping Festival, Quality African Products Online Shopping Festival hold in China
In order to boost the economies of China and Africa, the 4th Brand and Quality Online Shopping Festival and Quality African Products Online Shopping Festival held in China from April 28, 2022 till May 12, 2022. The event was hosted by Chinese Ministry of Commerce, jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, among others. The online shopping festival promoting African goods witnessed events held in provinces across the country. The event drew more than 100,000 brands from over one million merchants from both China and Africa.
The shopping festival was the clearest indication yet of the growing trade and economic ties between Beijing and African capitals. Powered by technology, the event enabled Chinese consumers to have real-time interaction with high-quality production bases in 23 African countries.
The Deputy Director-General of the Department of African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhou Ping, while speaking during the event, said the online shopping festival will have great value as China and Africa will deepen cooperation on digital innovation this year, to upgrade China-Africa cooperation with a touch of digital power and help Africa to deal with the digital gap. “China always keep its promises, and tries its best to deliver on its commitments to African friends, which is the most important feature of China-Africa cooperation,” Zhou said.
Share Chinese Harmony and Perform Nigeria-China Symphony
In order to introduce the time-honored cultural concept of Chinese traditional culture to Nigeria, explore ways to build a better society in Nigeria, and better promote China-Nigeria cooperation, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, has initiated the ideal of “Share Chinese Harmony and Perform Nigeria-China Symphony.” The initiative is rooted in Chinese cultural traditions and aims to provide solutions with Chinese characteristics to the problems and challenges which Nigeria currently faces.
The structure of the initiative could be summarized as “four beams, eight columns.” The “four beams” referred to Harmony in Coexistence, Harmony in Integration, Harmony in Diversity, and Harmony in Development respectively. The “eight columns” referred to Kindness and Harmony which corresponds to Citizen/Nature; Beauty and Friendliness which corresponds to Family/Society; Unity and Cohesion which corresponds to Nation/Culture; and Peace and Consonance which corresponds to State/Governance.
On April 20, the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria and the Center for China Studies in Nigeria jointly held a seminar entitled “Share Chinese Harmony &Perform Nigeria-China Symphony”. The participants agreed that harmony is the prerequisite for social progress and can inspire a force in the whole society.
In the following editions, we will publish in succession of the specific introductions of this ideal.
2022 Essay Writing Competition of Share Chinese Harmony and Perform Nigeria-China Symphony
To further strengthen the traditional friendship and build better relationship between China and Nigeria, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Nigeria is to organize the “2022 Essay Writing Competition.” Participants can select one from the following two topics to write an essay in English language not exceeding 5000 words.
Topic One: My Dream of Harmony (Our culture celebrates Harmony in Coexistence, Harmony in Integration, Harmony in Diversity, Harmony in Development)
Topic Two: My Nigeria-China Symphony (The word “Symphony” is used as a metaphor for win-win cooperation between Nigeria and China).
Laptop computers, smart phones and bluetooth speakers will be presented as the first, second and third prizes respectively to our winners at the award ceremony of the essay writing competition in early July, 2022.
Submission Requirements:
1. The works require originality. Anyone found to have copied the works of another person will be automatically disqualified.
2. Participant should submit the essay (with writer’s name and contact number) by mail at [email protected] by June 20, 2022.
Your active participation is most welcomed!
