China Builds Global Partnerships for Shared Progress

At Greece’s Port of Piraeus, one of Europe’s busiest maritime hubs, ships continuously move goods, connecting global markets. The port’s transformation exemplifies the kind of cooperation that drives shared development, a principle frequently emphasised by Chinese President Xi Jinping. During a 2019 state visit to Greece, Xi inspected the port, highlighting that China’s international engagements prioritise tangible benefits for local communities. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted that the project deepened Greece’s understanding of true friendship through collaboration. Xi’s vision of mutual progress extends across continents, from the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya to the Juncao agricultural technology programme. Originally developed in Fujian Province, Juncao technology uses a specific grass to cultivate edible mushrooms, provide livestock feed, and prevent soil erosion, serving as an effective tool for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. In Tajikistan, Xi attended the inauguration of a China-assisted thermal power plant, acknowledging the hardships caused by energy shortages and stressing that the best projects are those that genuinely improve people’s lives. This philosophy also guides China’s engagement with Africa, where Xi announced principles of sincerity, real results, amity, and good faith during his first overseas trip as president in 2013. At the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, he declared that no one should be left behind on the path to modernisation. China has further opened its market by implementing zero-tariff treatment for all 53 African nations with which it has diplomatic relations. In the realm of global climate governance, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon credited China’s decisive role in negotiating and ratifying the Paris Agreement, stating that without President Xi’s initiative, the accord might not have been achieved. Xi has consistently called for global solidarity on ecological protection, linking it to the well-being and future of all nations.