Xi Calls for World Leaders to Cooperate in Addressing Global Challenges

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for global political leaders to strengthen coordination and cooperation, align the interests of their own people with those of people around the world and move toward building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi made the call in a keynote speech Tuesday via a video link from Beijing at the Communist Party of China (CPC) and World Political Parties Summit, a virtual meeting of more than 500 leaders of political parties and political organizations from 160-plus countries. The summit is hosted by the CPC’s International Department.

“From the perspective of ‘one’s own country first,’ the world is a small and crowded place with fierce competition all the time,” Xi said. “From the perspective of sharing a common future, the world is broad with opportunities for cooperation everywhere.”

The theme of the summit is “For the People’s Wellbeing: The Responsibility of Political Parties.” Hu Zhaoming, spokesperson for the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said the summit aims to strengthen mutual learning of governing experience between the CPC and political parties worldwide, jointly respond to challenges brought by changes unseen in a century and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said the CPC will shoulder its responsibilities as a major party in a major country to improve the well-being of humankind.

Xi criticized “attempts by anyone to create technological blockade, scientific gap or decoupling in development.” He didn’t name any country doing so, but multiple Chinese tech companies are under sanctions by the U.S. over national security issues.

“I believe that any political maneuvering which threatens the development of other countries and undermines the livelihood of their people will not have the people’s support and is ultimately futile,” Xi said.

Discussing the pandemic, the Chinese leader condemned “politicizing the epidemic or labeling the virus,” referring to allegations that the virus originally came from a laboratory in China, a theory China has repeatedly rejected. U.S. President Joe Biden in May ordered intelligence officials to redouble efforts to investigate the origins of Covid-19, including the Chinese lab theory.

Xi called for strengthening cooperation to bridge the “immunity gap.” More than 3.25 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, equal to 42 doses for every 100 people. But there is a stark gap between vaccination rates in different countries. As of Monday, more than 30 countries have had more than half their population vaccinated, but many countries, especially in Africa, had less than 1% vaccinated, data from the New York Times show.

Xi also defended China’s development path and political system, saying no nation could dictate democracy to other countries and each country should choose its own solution.

“The path to happiness can be different, and people of different countries should choose their own way of development, system and model,” Xi said. “Whether a country is democratic should be decided by the people of that country, and not by a small handful of people.”

Xi said China’s modernization model has proven itself as the “right and viable” path and pledged to continue following it. “There is no fixed model for the road to modernization. The best path is one that suits one’s own needs,” he said.

As countries, especially the U.S., are increasingly concerned by the rise of China, Xi pledged that China will never seek hegemony, expansion, or sphere of influence. China will always be a member of the developing world, Xi said.

Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)

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