Xi urges global governance reforms - News Focus

President Xi Jinping addresses the conference marking the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade's 70th anniversary and the Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit via video link, on May 18, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

He emphasizes fairness, justice and innovation to help promote worldwide growth

President Xi Jinping called on Wednesday for reforms of the global governance system guided by the principle of fairness and justice, reiterating that China's resolve to open up at a high standard remains unchanged.

Xi made the remarks when delivering a video address at a conference marking the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade's 70th anniversary and the Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit.

Noting that today's world is experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and drastic changes unseen in a century, and economic globalization is facing headwinds, Xi underlined the need for the international community to pull together to defeat the pandemic, reinvigorate global trade and investment and improve the global governance system.

"Now more than ever, business communities across the world yearn for peace and development, call for fairness and justice, and aspire for win-win cooperation," he said.

Xi emphasized that seeking exclusive blocs will only lead the world to division and confrontation.

"We should uphold true multilateralism, embrace a global governance vision featuring extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and mobilize resources from across the world to meet global challenges and advance global development," he said.

"We should choose dialogue over confrontation, tear down walls rather than erect them, pursue integration instead of decoupling, opt for inclusiveness and not exclusion, and guide reforms of the global governance system with the principle of fairness and justice."

While underlining the need to balance the pandemic response and economic development, Xi called for strengthening macroeconomic policy coordination among countries in order to get the global economy on firm footing at an early date.

Xi said that the Global Development Initiative put forward by China calls for concerted efforts to advance the United Nations'2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in all respects.

"We should support the World Trade Organization-centered multilateral trading regime, ensure the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains, and make the pie of cooperation bigger to allow development gains to better trickle down to people of all countries," Xi said.

He called for strengthening international cooperation on vaccine research and development, production and distribution, and for bolstering global public health governance, jointly building multiple lines of defense against the virus, and working for a global community of health for all.

In his speech, Xi also stressed the need to unleash the power of innovation in driving global development.

"We should tap into the potential of innovation in spurring growth, jointly step up intellectual property protection, make rules on the basis of extensive participation and consensus building, and foster an open, fair, equitable and nondiscriminatory environment for scientific and technological development," he said.

He also called for intensifying international exchanges and cooperation on innovation, facilitating integration of science and technology with economic growth, increasing the sharing of innovation results, and removing all barriers that hamper the flow of knowledge, technology, talent and other factors of innovation. "By doing so, we will better unleash the gushing vitality of innovation," he added.

Xi reiterated in his speech that China will not change its opening-up policy, but rather that the door of China will open still wider to the world.

"China will continue to foster an enabling business environment that is based on market principles, governed by law and up to international standards," he said.

"We will pursue high-standard implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and offer more market, investment and growth opportunities to the global business community."