Yearender: Xi's vision for a responsible country

A SHARED VISION

Xi's Davos speech, in which he rooted for free trade, an open economy and globalization, sketches out his multilateralism-based approach to invigorating global growth, and stems from his vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Even since he first expounded the overarching idea to the world in 2013 in a speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, he has gradually fleshed it out over the years.

"Our world is full of hope and challenges. ... No country can address alone the many challenges facing mankind; no country can afford to retreat into self-isolation," Xi said in his momentous report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October.

In this era of growing challenges and risks, like climate change, ravaging terrorism, and rising trade protectionism, Xi's proposition charts a clear and viable course forward.

"We have a shared destiny. ... We have to develop our own policy based on common shared interests. That will be a good starting point," said Gerhard Stahl, a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

In Xi's view, a community with a shared future for humankind should feature mutual respect, diversity and dialogue based on equality and peaceful co-existence among different civilizations, and the world order should be decided not by one country or a few, but by broad international consensus.

William Jones, Washington Bureau chief of US publication Executive Intelligence Review, said Xi's proposal is an "attempt by the Chinese president to overcome and replace the traditional notion of 'geopolitics,' in which there are always 'winners' and 'losers,' and in which the principle of 'might makes right' tends to predominate."

"In this new concept, everyone plays a role and the benefits achieved by any one nation can be shared by all," he added.