On November 15, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 17th Summit of the Group of 20 (G20) in Bali, Indonesia, and delivered an important speech. This is the first time for Chinese President to attend a multilateral summit after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which has attracted great attention from the international community.
President Xi Jinping stressed at the G20 summit that we meet at a time of momentous changes unseen in a century, changes that are consequential to the world, to our times, and to history. It is imperative that all countries embrace the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, and advocate peace, development, and win-win cooperation. All countries should replace division with unity, confrontation with cooperation, and exclusion with inclusiveness. All countries should join hands together to answer the question of our times — ‘what is wrong with this world, what we should do about it’ — so as to tide over difficulties and create a better future together.
Nowadays, the COVID-19 pandemic still drags on with cases surging here and there. The world economy is getting more fragile. The geopolitical environment remains tense. Global governance is seriously inadequate. Food and energy crises are compounded with one another. All of these pose formidable challenges to our development. Under such circumstances, President Xi Jinping put forward the important idea of ‘Promoting more inclusive, beneficial and resilient global development’, which pointed the way for the G20 to strengthen cooperation and coordinate economic policies. It also gathered broad consensus and injected strong momentum for China and other countries, including Afghanistan, to meet the challenges of the times and build a better future together.
China will cooperate with Afghanistan in a more inclusive global development. President Xi Jinping pointed out that Solidarity is strength, but division leads nowhere. Humanity is a community of shared future, living in the same global village. We should stand with each other in the face of risks and challenges such as COVID-19 and economic downturn. However, in recent years, certain foreign countries have acted against globalization, drawing ideological lines and promoting group politics and bloc confrontation. Such behavior will only divide the world, and hinder global development and human progress. Division and confrontation serve no one’s interest. Only solidarity and common development is the right choice to make.
As friendly neighbors, China and Afghanistan have a long history of friendship stretching back thousands of years. In stark contrast to the foreign occupation of Afghanistan in the past 20 years, China has always respected Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, the independent choices made by the Afghan people, and the religious beliefs and ethnic customs. China has never interfered in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, has never sought any private interests in Afghanistan, and has never sought the so-called sphere of influence.
Faced with the rise of counter-globalization and Cold War mentality, China and Afghanistan should respect each other, seek common ground while reserving differences and coexist peacefully. We should strengthen exchanges in governance, deepen cooperation in economy and trade, agriculture, energy, minerals, health-care, education, finance, connectivity and capacity building. We should work together to maintain and develop the well-being of the people. In the future, China will continue to join hands with Afghanistan to build a community with a shared future and open up new horizons of win-win cooperation.
China will aid Afghanistan in a more beneficial global development. President Xi Jinping said that Development is real only when all countries develop together. Prosperity and stability cannot be possible in a world where the rich become richer while the poor are made poorer. Only when front runners in development do their best for the cause of global development, provide more global public goods, and sincerely help others develop, can ‘Recover Together’ become a reality. The Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative that President Xi Jinping proposed are aimed at meeting the long-term objective and immediate needs of common development of the world, fostering international consensus on promoting development, cultivating new drivers for global development, creating a peaceful and stable international environment, and facilitating common development and progress of all countries.
China has always taken on the responsibility of a great nation and a great power, and has long been committed to solving the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development of the world. China has helped developing countries, including Afghanistan, to achieve sustainable development. Based on Afghanistan’s long-term development, China will continue to provide development assistance and emergent humanitarian assistance such as food, winter supplies, COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment. China will support enterprises in investing and starting businesses in Afghanistan on the basis of mutual benefit, and will also strengthen our humanistic exchanges with Afghanistan to enhance our friendship. From now on, China is willing to provide new humanitarian aids and economic reconstruction cooperation through bilateral and multilateral channels to bring more help to the welfare of Afghan people.
China will assist Afghanistan’s recovery in a more resilient global development. At a time when economic globalization is encountering headwinds and the world economy is at risk of recession, all countries need to accommodate concerns of developing countries, and enhance their economic resilience. Only by continuing to deepen international cooperation against COVID-19, curbing global inflation and defusing systemic economic and financial risks, can more countries emerge from recession and recover as soon as possible. And only through liberalizing and facilitating trade and investment, fostering an open fair and non-discriminatory development environment, and establishing effective mechanisms to address challenges of food and energy security, can ‘Recover Stronger’ become possible.
President Xi Jinping said that Amity and good neighborliness are invaluable to a country. Since last year, China has taken the lead in creating several coordination mechanisms related to Afghanistan, leading to a simultaneous peaceful and stable development between Afghanistan and the region. Since the launch of the Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism among Neighbors of Afghanistan, it has endeavored to bring into play the strengths of neighboring countries, thus playing a constructive role in promoting the steady transition in Afghanistan. The China-Afghanistan liaison mechanisms at the working levels for humanitarian assistance and economic reconstruction have continued to boost cooperation between the two countries and provided many tangible benefits to Afghanistan.
Looking ahead, China is ready to promote synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the development strategies of Afghanistan, and is willing to support the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, and support the smooth operation of the China-Afghanistan freight train services, to help Afghanistan better integrate into the regional economic integration process. In the future, China will work with the neighboring countries of Afghanistan to build consensus and coordinate efforts to support the people of Afghanistan in building a brighter future.
China’s marching toward modernization will bring more opportunities to the world, inject stronger momentum for international cooperation, and make greater contribution to human progress. China has been contributing to global development with a full range of wisdom from concept to practice. The Chinese proposition of ‘Promoting more inclusive, beneficial and resilient global development’ is a problem-oriented prescription for world development. It conveys firm confidence for a world full of uncertainties, injects powerful energy for gathering international consensus, and boosts cooperation between China and Afghanistan.
In the new era, China will promote to build a peaceful, stable, developing and prosperous Afghanistan, which is the aspiration of all Afghan people and the common interests of regional countries and the international community.