摘要：Chinese President Xi Jinping chairs the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus" meeting and delivers a speech titled "Pooli

Chinese President Xi Jinping chairs the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus" meeting and delivers a speech titled "Pooling the Strength of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization To Improve Global Governance" in Tianjin, north China, September 1, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

By Frank Yang

When Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed his Global Governance Initiative (GGI) on September 1, he also detailed five key points, among which is "staying committed to the people-centered approach." It means global governance must be conducted from the perspective of the wellbeing of all humanity. The wellbeing of the people is the ultimate goal of global governance. Commenting on Xi's GGI, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic echoed the human-centric approach, saying "it has to be delivered to the people all over the world."

A people-centered concept is an ancient, as well a modern, concept in China's national governance. It is a core notion in Xi's governance thought. This concept has been successfully implemented in China, achieving tangible results. And now Xi has included it in his Global Governance Initiative, reflecting his thinking about the advancement of human civilization and the wellbeing of the world’s people.

For human civilization to thrive, first and foremost is the right of existence for all people. In 2015, the United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all UN member states, providing a holistic framework for tackling the world's most pressing challenges in a coordinated way. Topping the 17 goals are ending poverty in all forms everywhere by 2030 and ending hunger. Ten years have passed since the SDGs were adopted but five years from the deadline set to achieve these goals, poverty and hunger are still rampant worldwide and even worsening in many parts of the world. In 2022, the World Bank estimated that approximately 659 million people lived on less than $2.15 per day. A 2023 report from the World Health Organization showed that between 691 million and 783 million people in the world faced hunger in 2022.

China is one of the few countries which have met the SDGs ahead of schedule, by lifting more than 800 million people out of extreme poverty in over four decades. Jim Yong Kim, former President of the World Bank Group, called China's achievement in poverty eradication "one of the great stories in human history." While China's fight against poverty has gained worldwide recognition, it also exemplifies the fact that poverty can be eradicated. China's eradication of extreme poverty was based on the people-centered concept. Global poverty can be addressed through global governance and based on the same concept too. While many extremely poor countries lack the resources to fight against poverty, global effort and coordinated action must be taken, in order to achieve zero poverty and zero hunger targets put forward in the UN SDGs.

A high-level panel discussion on South-South Cooperation is held at the UN headquarters in New York, the U.S., September 12, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

The right to development is also an entitlement for people. Without Comprehensive development of individuals, there can be no truly great humanity. Comprehensive development includes physical and spiritual development. British scholar and co-author of "Poverty Dynamic: Interdisciplinary Perspectives" – Robert Walker pointed out that the right to development has the same status as all other human rights, and that all countries have the obligation to promote and achieve development rights.

People in all countries, big or small, should not only have the right to exist, but also to prosper in an all-round way. If rich and powerful countries thrive, they should allow poor and weak countries to have the opportunity to develop, instead of limiting or even depriving their right to development. And that is a fundamental human rights issue and should be a common understanding among countries and a major part of global governance.

In 1776, the forefathers of the United States promulgated that "all men are created equal" when they drafted the constitution. This means human equality is a natural and self-evident truth. People are born with the same fundamental and unalienable right that can't be justly taken away and people should be treated equally under the law no matter their origin, race or religion. This notion has inspired numerous movements for equality and freedom in the U.S. and globally. It is still relevant today but it should be renewed as it has been forgotten by many.

When equality, fairness and justice become weakened, social unrest and hate increase. It is true for all countries in the world and for their peoples. Bullying of the weak by the strong on any pretext is unacceptable and should be stopped. In global governance, striving for equality, fairness and justice is in the interest of all countries and peoples.

When hundreds of millions of people are starving, waking up every morning worrying about their next meal, when people are living in poverty en masse and when equality, fairness and justice are just a distant dream, the world will be mired in mass migration, unrest, conflicts and wars. People will experience a daily struggle and will be in despair. If people see hope that poverty and hunger will someday go away, that everyone enjoys the right to over-all development, and that equality, fairness and justice are upheld, the world will be much safer. People will be living in affluence, fulfillment, security and peace. All these require national and global governance with the people-centered concept.

Frank Yang is a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN.

来源：中国网一点号