Yearender: How China engages a challenging world in 2025

BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- In September, China held a grand commemoration marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

In his speech at the event, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China's steadfast commitment to peaceful development. "The Chinese people will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and join hands with the rest of the world to build a community with a shared future for humanity," he said.

For a country that paid a heavy price for independence and peace, remembering wartime suffering is a way to cherish today's hard-won stability -- especially in an era marked by overlapping upheavals and growing disorder.

Amid rising protectionism and geopolitical uncertainty, China in 2025 has reached out extensively to promote world peace and stability, boost common development through greater opening-up, and engage more actively in global governance.

COMMITMENT TO LASTING PEACE

China's commitment to peace was also unmistakably expressed when Xi traveled to Moscow in May to attend the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War.

"Historical memory and truth will not fade with the passage of time. They serve as inspirations that mirror the present and illuminate the future. We must learn from history, especially the hard lessons of the Second World War," Xi wrote in a signed article published by Russian media ahead of the visit.

"China does not invoke the memories of war to foster new antagonisms," said Abu Bakr al-Deeb, an economic researcher and advisor to the Cairo-based Arab Center for Research and Studies. "Rather, it draws upon history to strengthen international cooperation and safeguard the victorious outcomes embodied in the establishment of a multilateral system."

Relations among major countries matter greatly to world peace and stability. Over the past year, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have maintained close exchanges. Xi has stressed that the independent, mature and resilient China-Russia relationship not only brings significant benefits to the two peoples, but also makes important contributions to maintaining global strategic stability and promoting an equal and orderly multipolar world.

Xi has consistently guided the development of China-U.S. relations from a strategic, long-term perspective. In October, Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump held their first meeting in Busan, South Korea, in six years. During the 100-minute meeting, Xi told Trump that the two countries should think big and recognize the long-term benefit of cooperation, and must not fall into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation, while Trump responded by saying that together, the two countries can get many great things done for the world and have many years of success.

On multilateral platforms, China has been promoting regional security and stability as ever. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in September in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, Xi stressed the SCO's role in maintaining regional stability.

During the summit, four new SCO centers were inaugurated, focusing respectively on countering security threats and challenges, improving information security, tackling transnational organized crimes, and strengthening anti-drug cooperation. Their establishment marks another significant advancement in SCO security cooperation.

China's dedication to peace is also evident in its global outreach. Through ministerial consultations and diplomatic engagements at multiple levels, Beijing has consistently worked to build broader consensus and promote political solutions to ongoing geopolitical conflicts.

This year, China pledged 100 million U.S. dollars in aid to Palestine to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and support recovery and reconstruction. It also played an active mediating role: shuttling between Thailand and Cambodia to help de-escalate tensions, and launching the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong to promote peaceful dispute resolution through the rule of law.

China aims to make the world a space of development, peace and harmony, where people of all nations can live in safety, enjoy development opportunities and engage in cross-cultural dialogue, said Ekaterina Zaklyazminskaya, a leading researcher at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

BROADER OPENNESS DESPITE RISING PROTECTIONISM

At the Central Economic Work Conference held earlier this month, Beijing has sent an explicit message to the world: despite external challenges and domestic complexities, the country remains committed to high-quality growth, unwavering opening up and deepening reform.

China is accelerating institutional opening-up. The launch of island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port, the world's largest FTP by area, marks a major step forward by facilitating freer flows of goods and introducing more business-friendly measures. Notably, the share of zero-tariff products in the Hainan FTP has risen from 21 to 74 percent, significantly expanding tariff-free coverage.

During a trip to Hainan, Xi described the FTP as a landmark move of the country to unwaveringly expand high-standard opening up and promote an open world economy.

In 2025, China has also taken concrete steps to bolster free trade in the region and globally. In October, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol was signed, elevating regional economic and trade cooperation to a new institutional level.

During Xi's state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia in April, a record 108 cooperation documents were signed, covering infrastructure, digital and green economy.

By the end of November, China-Europe freight trains had completed 120,000 trips, transported goods worth more than 490 billion U.S. dollars, including high-value-added products such as automobiles, mechanical equipment and electronics.

Chancay Port, which began operations in November 2024, has become Peru's third-largest port in just one year. As Latin America's first smart green port, its importance extends beyond trade facilitation to a driver of employment and regional development.

"Through platforms such as the Belt and Road Initiative, countries can gain development, infrastructure and connectivity, which helps improve conditions for modernization and opens up more concrete development pathways," said Keith Bennett, international relations consultant and vice president of the London-based 48 Group.

In trade alone, China is a major trading partner for over 150 countries and regions, and has signed 23 free trade agreements with 30 nations and regions.

At the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Xi stressed the need to build an inclusive and open Asia-Pacific economy for all, calling for joint efforts to safeguard the multilateral trading system, build an open economic environment in the region, and promote universally beneficial and inclusive development, among other proposals.

China has further expanded its unilateral visa-free policy to nationals of 48 countries, with 11 more added to the list in 2025. In the first three quarters, more than 20 million foreign visitors entered China visa-free, a year-on-year increase of over 50 percent.

Openness also extends to people-to-people bonds. Government scholarships, training programs and vocational projects such as the Luban Workshop have helped cultivate local professionals in renewable energy, digital economy and smart agriculture.

Cultural exchanges, including the China-Russia Years of Culture and the China-ASEAN Years of People-to-People Exchanges, have deepened cross-cultural understanding. From the original Chinese dance drama "Wing Chun" staged in Toronto to the Russian art exhibition "Ilya Repin: Encyclopedia of Russian Life" in Beijing, audiences across continents have connected through shared stories and emotions.

Dialogue among different civilizations and cultures "helps people learn from one another, find areas of common ground and build mutual respect and equality, which in turn creates a stronger foundation for peaceful coexistence and cooperation on major global issues," said Bennett.

BIGGER VOICE OF GLOBAL SOUTH

As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary this year, global governance deficits, development imbalances and security dilemmas remain pressing challenges.

Through responsible actions, China has continued to provide global public goods that support development, enhance security, and promote exchanges among civilizations. Most recently, this commitment was reflected in the proposal of the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) by Xi in September.

At the SCO Plus Meeting, Xi highlighted five principles of the initiative -- adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating the people-centered approach, and focusing on taking real actions.

The initiative has been widely viewed as a timely and necessary call for greater Global South involvement in governance reform. In December, the Group of Friends of Global Governance was launched at UN headquarters with over 40 founding members, offering an inclusive platform for pooling collective wisdom and advancing joint efforts to reform and improve the global governance system.

The initiative "represents a positive step toward a more equitable international system," said al-Deeb.

China has long been a champion of greater democracy in international relations and a more just global governance system that can reflect the collective rise of the Global South.

During his visit to the New Development Bank in Shanghai in April, Xi called for efforts to reform the international financial architecture and urged the bank to amplify the voice of the Global South, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the Global South, and support the countries of the Global South in their pursuit of modernization.

At the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, China announced the establishment of the China-UN Global South-South Development Facility with 10 million U.S. dollars in budgetary support to accelerate sustainable development in the Global South.

The Global South is no longer a mere "appendage" of the international system but is emerging as a key force driving international cooperation and shaping the global agenda, said Wirun Phichaiwongphakdee, director of the Thailand-China Research Center of the Belt and Road Initiative.

He added that this transformation aligns closely with the four China-proposed global initiatives on development, security, civilization and governance, all of which emphasize genuine multilateralism, equal participation and win-win cooperation, rather than power politics dominated by a handful of countries.

While leading the efforts of the Global South to become a key force for reforming global governance, China has also devoted efforts to addressing urgent and emerging global priorities, including climate change, digital divides and artificial intelligence (AI).

In September, Xi announced China's 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions, setting ambitious targets for emissions reduction, renewable power capacity and other climate goals.

Meanwhile, China advanced two major AI governance proposals -- the Global AI Governance Action Plan and the AI+ International Cooperation Initiative -- responding to the urgent global need for inclusive, safe and development-oriented AI rules, especially for Global South countries facing digital gaps.

Digital infrastructure built through Africa-China cooperation has become one of the "tangible pillars" of Africa's progress, said Moses Odhiambo, president of the Kenya Parliamentary Journalists Association.

Taken together, these efforts reflect China's determination, endeavor and strategic capacity in promoting justice in global governance.

"As a responsible power, China presents a coherent and positive vision for the future of the international order -- a vision grounded in comprehensive development, cooperative security, mutual respect among civilizations, and the substantive reform of global governance," said al-Deeb. ■