Takshashila SlideDoc - China’s Vision for a New World Order: GDI, GSI & GCI

Published September 27, 2023

Executive Summary

This assessment argues that the Chinese leadership’s proposal to build a community of common destiny for mankind presents an alternative vision for the world order. In order to achieve this objective, Beijing is seeking to bring about fundamental institutional and normative changes to global governance. It is within this context that Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI) and Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI).

Analysing the speeches by Chinese leaders, policy publications, media and analytical discourse in China, along with actual policy decisions, this assessment provides a SWOT analysis of current geopolitical churn from Beijing’s perspective. It then places the launch of GDI, GSI and GCI within this context, before detailing the elements of each initiative and distilling their stated and implicit agenda.

The assessment concludes that the launch of these initiatives presages a far more proactive foreign policy approach by Beijing. Through GDI, GSI and GCI, the Chinese leadership hopes to shape an external environment that not only ensures regime security but is also favourable for China’s development and security interests. In doing so, however, it is reshaping key norms of global governance towards a fundamentally illiberal direction.

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