On July 10, China held in Beijing the first high-level conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development, based on the idea of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Times of that day reported. In a congratulatory letter to the conference, attended by hundreds of participants from 130 countries and global organizations, Xi emphasized that, “development is the eternal theme of human society, and shared development is an important path to building a better world.”
While attacking the West, which has “neglected the widening wealth gap, and put their own interests above those of developing countries, and spared no effort in smearing China’s contribution to helping those nations,” Xi highlighted that “China has always placed its development within the larger context… [of] new opportunities for the development of the world.” In this setting, Xi cited the thrust of the Global Development Initiative.
Xi had unveiled the GDI in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2021. The Belt and Road Initiative, the China-led infrastructure platform project that stretches around the globe, had already been created in September 2013. But Xi and the Chinese leadership thought that this needed a perspective that would re-shape the world and overcome divisions so that harmony could prevail, setting the basis among nations within which the BRI’s physical economics could grow. In his September 2021 UN speech, Xi stressed the governing concepts: “Staying committed to development as a priority; Staying committed to a people-centered approach; Staying committed to benefits for all; Staying committed to innovation-driven development; Staying committed to harmony and between man and nature; [and] Staying committed to results-oriented actions.”
