From a grain of rice to a more equal world

When it comes to development, some people tend to think of GDP, investment or massive infrastructure projects. But for most families, development looks much simpler. It means having lights on at night, roads remaining accessible through the rainy season, doctors available when someone falls ill, and young people getting an education that leads to a decent job.

These may sound like ordinary things, but that's exactly what development is about: making people's lives better. Development matters when a family can feel the difference, and when an entire community can share in its benefits.

For farmers in Madagascar, for example, planting hybrid rice varieties developed in China, produces between 9 and 11 tons of rice per hectare, compared with about 2.8 tons for traditional local varieties, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Those figures are more than statistics. To a farmer, they could mean something more tangible: fuller granaries, a little more income and a better chance of keeping a child in school.

So what can a single grain of rice tell us?

It reminds us that development cooperation is only meaningful if it improves ordinary lives. And in today's inter-connected world, it raises four larger questions: How do we make development more inclusive? How do we protect it with lasting peace? How do we enable different civilizations to learn from one another? And how do we build a fairer system of global governance?

These are exactly the questions that China has been seeking to answer.

How can development benefit more people?

China proposed the Global Development Initiative in 2021. Under the initiative, more than 23 billion US dollars have been mobilized and over 1,800 cooperation projects launched.

But numbers alone do not tell the whole story. The more important question is whether these efforts can change people's lives for the better.

In Madagascar, as I mentioned earlier, change means higher yields from hybrid rice. In Papua New Guinea, change could be a strand of Juncao grass allowing small farmers to grow edible mushrooms without cutting down forests, while creating new sources of income. Or it could be a Luban Workshop in Kazakhstan, where local students learn practical skills in areas such as renewable energy, automation, and rail transportation based on the needs of local industries.

What China seeks is not simply to deliver a project to move on from. China wants to work with local partners to develop skills, share appropriate technologies and create opportunities that can take root, continue to grow and benefit communities over the long term.

What protects the gains of development?

For many developing countries, security means far more than the absence of war. It also means hospitals that can continue to operate during floods, droughts or public health crises. It means stable access to food and energy. It means having the resilience to emerge from challenges. A war can destroy a school overnight. A severe natural disaster or public health emergency can set back the development of an entire community for years.

This is why China proposed the Global Security Initiative in 2022. It calls for a vision of security that is common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable. It emphasizes resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, while also addressing global challenges such as food security, energy security, public health and climate change.

Peace is the foundation on which development grows. And development itself can help address the root causes of conflict and instability, creating stronger foundations for lasting peace.

Can different paths of development respect and enrich one another?

China's answer is yes. Every country has its own history, culture and path of development. Cooperation should not begin with the assumption that one country must first become a copy of another.

True civilizational exchange is not about one side changing the other, nor replacing the other. It is about learning from each other with equality and respect, drawing inspiration from different experiences, and allowing diverse civilizations to grow together through dialogue rather than compete through exclusion.

In 2023, China proposed the Global Civilization Initiative, which recognizes that the greatest value of mutual learning between civilizations is not to erase differences, but to make those differences a starting point for mutual understanding and mutual reinforcement.

Who should shape global rules?

Today, the contribution of the Global South to global development continues to grow. Yet in some international institutions, its representation and voice remain limited.

In 2025, China proposed the Global Governance Initiative, which emphasizes sovereign equality, the rule of international law, multilateralism, a people-centered approach and action-oriented cooperation.

The goal is not to tear down the existing international system or start over from scratch. Rather, it is to make that system more representative, more effective and better able to respond to the concerns of developing countries.

Global rules should be shaped through the participation of more countries, not written by a few and simply accepted by the rest. The affairs of the world should be discussed and decided together, and the benefits of development should be shared by all.

These four Global Initiatives reflect China's vision for the future of our world: development gives people hope; security protects that hope; civilizations help us understand one another; and governance provides fairer institutions for shared progress.

China has always been a member of the Global South. We have experienced the long journey from poverty to development, and we understand that there is no single model for modernization, nor any shortcut that can simply be copied and pasted.

China looks forward to continuing to work with countries around the world so that development is no longer the privilege of a few, but a right shared by all; so that modernization is not painted in a single color, but reflects a landscape of diverse paths and possibilities; and so that every country and every people can take part in shaping our shared future.

The author is an observer of international affairs.

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

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