Evolving global commitment

Sino-US strategic stability can inject new momentum into global governance

President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States in September and the fifth anniversary of the Global Development Initiative illuminate connected dimensions of China's global commitment to building a community with a shared future for humanity. China seeks a durable way to manage its relationship with the US while positioning itself among other Global South countries as a major country capable of sustaining development cooperation. The Global Governance Initiative extends these efforts into a proposal promoting the reform of multilateral institutions. Together, these offer a way to assess China's long-standing objective to build a new type of major-country relations and to exercise the responsibilities it associates with its global standing.

In Washington, China and the US endorsed a "constructive relationship of strategic stability" on the basis of respect, fairness and reciprocity, a vision initially agreed during US President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing in May. Some experts described this relationship as one in which cooperation will take precedence, competition will remain within limits and differences will be managed. This approach embodies a new type of major-country relations, whereby an established power and a rising power can avoid confrontation through mutual respect and cooperation. The 2026 formulation addresses the practical task of maintaining negotiation channels amid continuing competition.

The visits of the two leaders to each other's country produced steps toward that goal. The two sides have activated bilateral boards of trade and investment. The trade board has agreed on recommendations for more favorable tariff treatment covering $30 billion in nonsensitive goods in each direction. The investment board has established a channel for discussing commercial opportunities and barriers. The two governments have also created a dialogue on advanced artificial intelligence and a communication channel for incidents involving the technology. These arrangements give officials recurring venues in which to address disputes and shared risks.

The implications reach beyond the two governments. Trade restrictions and sharp frictions over advanced technologies could disrupt economies whose development strategies depend on access to both China and the US. Regular dialogue between the two powers can make their conduct more predictable for those countries. In this respect, China's tendency to act responsibly as a major country is observed in the pursuit of its interests while helping contain the wider costs of strategic competition.

The Global Development Initiative provides a more direct measure of China's contribution to global development. The Chinese president announced the initiative at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021, linking it to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At a fifth-anniversary meeting held in Beijing in July with the participation of UN representatives and agencies, Foreign Minister Wang Yi reported that more than 130 countries and international organizations had supported or participated in cooperation under the framework of the Global Development Initiative. Nearly 100 countries and international and regional organizations have signed cooperation documents with China, while the Group of Friends of the GDI had grown to 88 member countries. These figures show how an initial proposal has acquired diplomatic partners and channels for continued engagement.

The reported activities give the initiative greater substance. By July, funding arrangements associated with the Global Development Initiative had mobilized more than $23 billion, supported over 1,800 livelihood projects and provided professional training to more than 200,000 people. The projects channel resources and expertise toward agricultural development, public health, energy and other development needs across the Global South. Their importance for China lies in the sustained cooperation they make possible and in the capacities that partner countries may gain through implementation.

UN sources provide identifiable examples of this cooperation. In 2025, the then UN resident coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee reported that China had supported more than 200 projects across over 70 countries under the framework of the Global Development Initiative, including activities related to agriculture, solar power and public health. The International Labour Organization documents a project conducted with a Chinese government partner from 2023 to 2026 to strengthen employment policy, public employment services and entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia. Such partnerships connect the Global Development Initiative's global claims with specific institutions, places and development needs.

The Global Governance Initiative provides a political framework for these activities. Introduced in 2025, it calls for sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, people-centered approach and real results. China has also begun building a coalition around those principles. The Group of Friends of Global Governance was launched at the UN headquarters in December 2025 with 43 countries. By May, China reported membership exceeding 60 countries, and foreign ministers and representatives from more than 60 countries attended a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York. There, Foreign Minister Wang set out proposed directions for reform that included development financing and artificial intelligence governance. The group gives participating states a forum for coordinating positions on those questions.

The three dimensions now form a coherent claim about China's role. Strategic stability with Washington can help limit the international effects of major-country competition. The Global Development Initiative directs resources and expertise toward development priorities. The Global Governance Initiative offers participating countries a platform from which to seek changes in global decision-making. For the Global South, their combined value will rest on the durability of dialogue, the delivery of projects and the influence that multilateral participation affords. China's actions in 2026 show how its idea of responsible major-country conduct is being translated into mechanisms that can be observed and assessed.

The author is a professor and a researcher at the Politics and Culture Department at the Metropolitan Autonomous University, Xochimilco campus, and member of the board of directors of the Mexican Association of Sinology.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.