During the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s daily press conference Dec. 10, spokesman Guo Jiakun announced that, on Dec. 9, China’s Permanent Mission to the UN had formally launched the Group of Friends of Global Governance initiative, with an initial membership of 43 nations from the Global South. The Permanent Representatives of each of those nations attended the launch of the new initiative and issued a joint statement emphasizing the urgent need to “reform and improve global governance to make it more relevant and responsive to an emerging multipolar world.”
Noting that the world is entering a period of “turbulence and transformation,” the new group welcomes the Global Governance Initiative announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on Sept. 1 of this year, emphasizing that it is anchored in “the purposes and principles of the UN Charter…to uphold multilateralism and reinforce the central role of the UN in international affairs.”