Speech by Chinese Consul General in Munich Qiu Xuejun at the Seminar on Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind

December 10, 2025

Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends:

Good afternoon! On behalf of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Munich, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you. The Seminar provides us with an opportunity to exchange views on the question of "Where is humanity headed?", on how to expand solidarity and cooperation, and to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

I. Promoting the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind: Advocating an Equal and Orderly Multipolar World, and a Universally Beneficial and Inclusive Economic Globalization

In today's world, profound changes unseen in a century are accelerating, and the international political and economic landscape is undergoing profound transformations. Traditional international relations theories are increasingly unable to explain today's world or resolve the many dilemmas facing humanity. The prevailing notions that a strong country is bound to seek hegemony, the mindsets that value power and zero-sum games, contradict the direction of our times. Peace or war, prosperity or decline, unity or division, cooperation or confrontation, openness or closure? Human society once again stands at a historical crossroads, urgently needing new vision and concepts that respond to the call of our times and conform to the trend of history.

Faced with the questions of "Where is humanity headed?" and "What kind of world should we build, and how should we build it?", President Xi Jinping gives the Chinese answer of building a community with a shared future for mankind. President Xi Jinping points out: "A community with a shared future for mankind, as the name suggests, means that the future and destiny of every nation and every country are closely linked. We should stand together through thick and thin, strive to build our planet into a harmonious family and turn the aspirations of people all over the world for a better life into reality."

The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind is guided by universally recognized basic principles governing international relations, adheres to the path of peaceful development, practices genuine multilateralism, advocates an equitable and orderly multipolar world, and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and promotes the common values pursued by all humanity. Building a community with a shared future for mankind upholds openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit, win-win cooperation, fairness and justice. It is not about replacing one system with another, or one civilization with another, but rather about countries with different social systems, ideologies, histories, cultures, and levels of development sharing common interests, rights, and responsibilities in international affairs.

The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind was initiated in 2013. By 2015, it had evolved into a comprehensive framework encompassing five aspects including partnerships, security architecture, development prospects, cultural exchanges  and the ecological system. In 2017, it has further developed into gaol of building a world in five dimensions, namely, building a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, and a clean and beautiful environment. Its connotations have been continuously deepening and expanding. It has been incorporated into UN resolutions and multilateral documents on multiple occasions. From the Belt and Road Initiative to the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative, the practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind has been continuously making new contributions to global prosperity, stability and development, and gaining widespread recognition and affirmation from the international community.

II. Promote High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation: A Major Practice in Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind

The Belt and Road Initiative, with the goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind, is a major measure for China to expand its opening-up and an important public good for improving global governance. For more than a decade since its inception, the Belt and Road Initiative has adhered to the principles of consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, upheld the ideas of openness, green development, and integrity, and has continuously moved forward along the path of high-quality development with the goals of high standards, sustainability, and benefiting people's livelihoods.

The Belt and Road Initiative is originated in China, but its opportunities and benefits belong to the world. Globally, the Belt and Road Initiative has helped more than 40 million people shake off poverty. Small but beautiful, quick-acting, and people-benefiting projects such as mushroom grass Juncao, wells and hybrid rice are making solid progress. The China-Europe Railway Express has operated over 120,000 trains, transporting goods worth over US$ 490 billion. It is estimated that by 2030, the Belt and Road Initiative will annually generate US$ 1.6 trillion in benefits globally, accounting for 1.3% of global GDP. It is worth mentioning that the Belt and Road Initiative is not only an economic road but also a road of humanitarian love. During the 2023 earthquake in southeastern Turkey and the 2024 floods in many parts of Kazakhstan, the China-Europe Railway Express delivered urgently needed supplies such as tents, blankets, medical supplies, drinking water, and food to the stricken areas at the earliest possible time.

The history and spirit of the Belt and Road Initiative are inherited from the ancient Silk Road. The term Silk Road was coined in the 19th century by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen. After years of development, the Belt and Road Initiative has become an important platform for Sino-German cooperation. Chinese and German enterprises have carried out many practical cooperation projects within the Belt and Road framework, covering logistics, automobile, machinery, energy and other fields.The China-Europe Railway Express hub in Nuremberg, a key city in Bavaria, has been operating for nearly 10 years, benefiting not only the local area, but also bringing significant benefits to businesses and people's livelihoods in countries and regions along the route.

China and Germany, the two countries with different political systems, have been working together on Belt and Road cooperation, demonstrating how the initiative transcends ideological and social system differences, promoting shared opportunities, common development and common prosperity among nations. The Belt and Road Initiative is neither a geopolitical nor a military alliance; it is neither targeted at nor excludes any country. Some countries have overgeneralized the concept of "national security", using "de-risking" as a pretext to engage in "decoupling", thereby undermining international trade and economic order and market rules. Instead, all countries should, in the spirit of the Belt and Road cooperation, jointly uphold the principles of bridging differences through dialogue, opposing division through unity, and promoting development through cooperation, and work together to create high-quality development and expand the pie of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.

III. The Four Global Initiatives: Important Pillars for Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind

Peace and development are the common aspirations of people around the world, but currently, the global deficits in peace, development, security, and governance are increasing rather than decreasing. The Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative respond to the call of the times and represent China's  approaches to major issues concerning world peace and development.

The Global Development Initiative focuses on international development cooperation, contributing to the advancement of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Global Security Initiative, oriented towards resolving international disputes through dialogue and consultation, offers new ideas for international security cooperation. The Global Civilization Initiative is committed to promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, clarifying a realistic path for building a diverse and inclusive civilizational ecosystem. The Global Governance Initiative anchors the principles, methods, and pathways for reforming global governance systems and mechanisms, injecting strong momentum into building a more just and equitable global governance system.

The four global initiatives, each with its own focus, provide crucial support for building a community with a shared future for mankind from the four dimensions of development, security, civilization and governance. These initiatives are universally beneficial, inclusive and feasible, reflecting China's responsibility as a builder of international peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order, and have garnered widespread response and support from the international community. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that China has made significant contributions to upholding international law and ensuring the rule of law, becoming a cornerstone in defending multilateralism.

Two banners hang atop Tiananmen Square, at the heart of Beijing, capital of China: "Long Live the People's Republic of China" and "Long Live the Great Unity of the People of the World." These embody the patriotism and global vision of the Communist Party of China(CPC) and the Chinese people. Promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind is the most vivid manifestation of China's continued commitment to the vision of achieving great unity of the people of the world.

In July of this year, the fifth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China was released both domestically and internationally. This volume contains spoken and written works by President Xi Jinping from May 27, 2022 to December 20, 2024. It vividly records the comprehensive and accurate implementation of the new development philosophy by the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core in the face of a precarious and complex international environment and arduous domestic tasks of  advancing reform and development while ensuring stability. It highlights the CPC's efforts to promote high-quality development, take further steps to advance and plan for deeper comprehensive reform, and take solid steps towards building a modern socialist country in all respects. It fully reflects the wisdom and approaches contributed by the CPC to building a community with a shared future for mankind. The publication of the five volumes of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China is of great significance in keeping the international community abreast of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and its latest developments, deepen its understanding of China's vision, approaches and ideas, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

In October of this year, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee adopted the proposals for China's 15th Five-Year Plan, charting the course and defining the goals for China's development over the next five years. The meeting emphasized the need to further expand high-level opening-up, create a new landscape of win-win cooperation, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. China is willing to take the implementation of the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session as an opportunity to join hands with people from all walks of life in Germany, in the State of Bavaria and the international community at large, to create synergy for implementing the four global initiatives, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, implement the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and promote the world towards a bright future of peace, security, prosperity, and progress.

Today marks Human Rights Day. China adheres to a development path suited to its national conditions and has continuously advanced human rights in the process of Chinese modernization, achieving a series of significant accomplishments related to human rights development, including the elimination of absolute poverty. President Xi Jinping says, "Our goals are both grand and simple; ultimately, they are to enable the people to live better lives."China is the world's largest developing country, and poverty reduction has always been a steadfast goal of the CPC and the Chinese government. Since its founding, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people in a resolute struggle against poverty. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and especially since the reform and opening up, China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty through large-scale poverty alleviation and development, accounting for more than 70% of the global poverty reduction during the same period. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has placed poverty alleviation at the forefront of governance, organizing and implementing an unprecedented poverty alleviation campaign in human history, and pooling the strength of the entire Party, the entire nation and the entire society to advance it. By the end of 2020, on the centenary of the founding of the CPC, China had completely eradicated regional overall poverty, historically completing the arduous task of eliminating absolute poverty. China achieved the poverty reduction target of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule, pushing the global poverty rate down from 38% in 1990 to 8.5% in 2024, making a significant contribution to global poverty reduction and human development. The right to survival and the right to development are the most fundamental human rights, and China has made great contribution to the development of human rights in its own country and the world through its actions. Whether it is promoting poverty reduction, ensuring peace, or addressing various challenges such as climate change, environmental crises, and health issues, they are all important paths to safeguard human rights. It is necessary for all countries to uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind and carry out more effective coordination and cooperation. Let us join hands to oppose the politicization of human rights and double standards, and promote global human rights governance towards a more fair, just, reasonable, and inclusive direction.

It's expected that guests and friends present here will engage in lively and in-depth exchanges, sparking new ideas and finding new opportunities for cooperation between China and Germany, and the international community at large,under the blueprint of building a community with a shared future for mankind.