Chinese governance stays true to its mission

Editor's Note: The 2026 Think Tank Forum on National Governance in Developing Countries was held in Beijing on June 26 under the theme "Mission and Contributions of Political Parties". The forum was co-hosted by the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance), Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee, China International Communications Group and China Daily. Below are excerpts from speeches by four participants, as reported by China Daily's Li Wei.

BRI anchors global initiatives implementation road map

The Belt and Road Initiative is a foundational framework that provides a practical platform and institutional support for implementing the four major global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping: the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative.

The BRI framework translates these initiatives from vision into action by providing the mechanisms and momentum for implementation. Together, the BRI and the four global initiatives form a comprehensive road map for building a global community with a shared future for humanity.

The Global Development Initiative seeks to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals through pragmatic cooperation, thus narrowing development gaps and strengthening capacity building. The BRI provides the material foundation for this vision through infrastructure connectivity, financial integration and digital cooperation.

The Global Security Initiative advocates dialogue and consultation, mutually beneficial cooperation, and rejects bloc confrontation and zero-sum rivalry.

By fostering positive economic interdependence, enhancing regional connectivity and promoting inclusive development, the BRI serves as both a stabilizer and a binding force.

The Global Civilization Initiative calls for equality among civilizations, respect for cultural diversity, and deeper exchanges and mutual learning. Through training programs, academic exchanges, think tank cooperation and people-to-people interactions, the BRI transforms these principles into tangible practice.

Finally, the Global Governance Initiative envisions a more just, equitable, representative and development-oriented system of global governance. The BRI creates the practical space to advance this vision by establishing new platforms for multilateral cooperation, promoting cooperation without any political conditions, and amplifying the voice of the Global South.

Against this backdrop, the historical mission of political parties is to recognize that governance modernization is not merely a technical undertaking.

It is equally a matter of vision, collective leadership and the capacity to build broad social consensus.

Progressive political parties across both the Global North and the Global South face three common tasks: to chart development paths suited to their national conditions; to build modern, efficient and transparent systems of governance; and to make full use of the BRI and the four global initiatives to advance their modernization.

In an increasingly uncertain world, conflicts can be resolved only through dialogue and negotiation.

Working in concert, the BRI and the four global initiatives point the way toward a more inclusive, balanced and development-oriented model of global governance.

CPC governance illuminating for Latin America

China and Latin America share profound historical affinities.

The Communist Party of China, through a century of evolution, has built a comprehensive and systematic organizational governance system that underpins long-term national stability and sustainable development. This experience is not a rigid model to copy mechanically, but a set of practical, actionable lessons worthy of Latin American parties' localized reference.

A chronic problem for Latin American party politics is the four — or five-year electoral cycle that dominates all policy logic.

The CPC's core organizational strength lies in its capacity to formulate long-term national development strategies in phases and maintain consistent implementation across successive leadership teams.

For Latin American parties, this means constructing internal institutional mechanisms to lock in long-term national development frameworks, decoupling core national strategies from partisan turnover, and establishing permanent internal research bodies to conduct forward-looking studies on industrialization, rural revitalization, and regional integration so that social progress does not stall with changes in the power structure.

Latin America suffers from party fragmentation and weak grassroots engagement. Most political parties rely heavily on elite networks, media campaigns and celebrity candidates, while maintaining only a limited presence in rural, marginalized and indigenous communities, as well as labor unions.

The CPC's distinctive organizational strength lies in its extensive grassroots network, with party branches embedded in villages, communities, factories, schools, enterprises and social organizations, creating direct links with people across society.

These branches serve as permanent platforms for gathering public concerns, mediating conflicts, delivering public services and mobilizing participation.

For Latin American parties, the lesson is to move beyond election-driven mobilization by establishing a lasting grassroots presence, strengthening dialogue with local communities, and transforming party organizations into year-round public service providers rather than campaign machines.

There exists no universal, one-size-fits-all party governance model. The CPC's organizational system evolved from China's unique historical, cultural, and national conditions. Instead of mechanically copying it, Latin American parties should adapt the referenced experiences to their own regional realities, indigenous cultures, institutional frameworks, and social structures.

Sinology, civilization and the mission of governance

The CPC has led the Chinese people toward modernization by giving an ancient civilization a modern political form. Whole-process people's democracy, common prosperity, and high-quality development are not borrowed doctrines.

They are contemporary expressions of a civilization that has continually renewed itself, translating China's enduring political tradition into modern governance.

Developing countries face common challenges: reducing poverty, sustaining growth, safeguarding security, preserving cultural identity, and building independent narratives. The deeper question is how to modernize without being defined by external discourses, drawing instead on their own civilizational heritage.

A mission gives governance its civilizational direction. Its success, however, depends on whether political parties can forge a consensus on good governance while respecting their differences. Such consensus does not require uniformity.

It grows from a genuine understanding of one another's civilizational logic. Bridging that gap demands more than linguistic translation — it requires people who can interpret one civilization through the lens of another.

These individuals need not copy China's experience, but adapt governance principles proven in practice to local realities and turn them into institutions that suit their societies.

For too long, political parties across the developing world have been spoken for rather than heard.

The answer is not louder messaging, but a shift from political advocacy to the exchange of governance knowledge.

Sinologists are natural interpreters, making Chinese governance intelligible across cultures while enabling other countries to explain their own development paths in concepts and narratives that resonate globally, securing a more equal voice in global governance.

Today, there is an opportunity to build a more pluralistic, development-oriented body of global knowledge — not to promote a single model, but to encourage equal dialogue, mutual learning, and stronger governance across the developing world.

As barriers to knowledge recede, greater understanding among political parties can translate into deeper cooperation, enriching global governance with the experience and wisdom of the developing world.

The new mission of political parties

Throughout history, political parties have been more than just participants in political systems. They are institutional vehicles through which societies respond to the challenges of the time.

During the formation and consolidation of nations, political parties united people around a shared vision of national development. Their historical mission, therefore, has never been limited to winning elections. Rather, it has been to forge social consensus about the future.

Every era places different demands on political institutions. The 20th century was characterized by political parties mobilizing hundreds of millions of people in pursuit of national goals.

Today, the political landscape has changed. People now have instant access to information and unprecedented opportunities to voice their opinions. They no longer seek merely to be heard — they aspire to help shape decisions.

Citizens want a say in setting priorities for urban and rural development, participating in the allocation of public resources, contributing to national policymaking discussions, and overseeing the implementation of public decisions.

Against this backdrop, the historical mission of political parties is evolving. Today's political parties must do more than represent social interests; they must also build effective mechanisms that enable citizens to participate in national governance.

In the interconnected world, political parties shoulder responsibilities that extend well beyond their domestic roles.

They are also becoming important actors in public diplomacy — promoting mutual understanding among nations, facilitating the exchange of governance experience and fostering trust, without which sustainable development cannot be achieved.

We attach great importance to the development of the China-Central Asia dialogue mechanism and firmly believe that closer cooperation between political parties will significantly contribute to strengthening friendship between our peoples.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.