Editor's note: 2023 is the first full year for implementing the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Ahead of this year's Two Sessions, China's key annual political meetings, CGTN presents "China Marches On," a special series that takes an in-depth look at the country's endeavors in advancing Chinese modernization.

Nearly a decade ago, when the newly-elected leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) made its debut at the Great Hall of People after the first plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the world speculated about how the most populous nation and second-largest economy on Earth would reach out to the global community, and what kind of role China would play in a rapidly-changing international order.

During his first overseas trip as Chinese president in March 2013, Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, introduced China's vision of fostering a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core and the notion of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Over the years, under Xi's leadership, China has been committed to the path of peaceful development, and devoted itself to addressing global challenges, facilitating win-win cooperation and making the global governance system more just and more equitable.

Belt and Road Initiative, win-win cooperation 

Also in 2013, Xi proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road successively in visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, respectively. This is how the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) took shape.

Ten years on, the BRI has substantially strengthened partnerships, promoted connectivity and pushed forward common development worldwide.

The annual trade volume between China and around 150 countries which have participated in the BRI expanded from $1.04 trillion in 2013 to $1.8 trillion in 2021, a quantum leap of 73 percent over eight years.

According to a World Bank report, the initiative could help lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty globally, and boost trade by 2.8-9.7 percent for participating countries and by 1.7-6.2 percent for the whole world.

China's support for UN's 2030 Agenda

As an active contributor to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, China has assisted other developing countries in reducing poverty, boosting agricultural progress, supporting equal access to education, improving infrastructure and speeding up industrialization, according to a white paper titled "China's International Development Cooperation in the New Era."

China will upgrade the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to a Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, and add $1 billion to the fund on top of the $3 billion already committed. China will also increase input to the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund, Xi noted at a High-level Dialogue on Global Development on June 24, 2022.

Xi expressed his hope in a letter to the World Youth Development Forum, held from July 21 to 23 in 2022 in Beijing, that the forum will become an important platform where young people worldwide can contribute to global development and global efforts are gathered to promote youth development.

He also called on young people to promote the Global Development Initiative (GDI) with concrete actions, and facilitate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The GDI, proposed by China at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in 2021, aims to steer global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth. 

Global Security Initiative

China released The Global Security Initiative Concept Paper on February 21, 2023, laying out core concepts and principles for solving global security challenges in the current volatile and changing era.

In April 2022, Xi put forward the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which aims to create a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum.

China is ready to conduct bilateral and multilateral security cooperation with all countries and international and regional organizations under the framework of the GSI, and actively promote coordination of security concepts and convergence of interests, according to the white paper.

China stands ready to work with all countries and peoples who love peace and aspire to happiness to address all kinds of traditional and non-traditional security challenges, protect peace and tranquility of the earth, and jointly create a better future for mankind, so that the torch of peace will be passed on from generation to generation and shine across the world, it added.