Editor's note: China will hold its annual "Two Sessions" in early March. Ahead of this year's key political meetings, CGTN presents "A look at China during the Two Sessions," a special series that takes an in-depth look at the country's endeavors in promoting people's livelihood, rural revitalization, economic development, sci-tech innovation and opening up.

In 2011, the Tajik government and China's Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co., Ltd. (TBEA) signed an agreement on the construction of the Dushanbe No. 2 thermal power plant, a combined heat and power station with a total installed capacity of 400 megawatts.

Officially launched in October 2012, the project is aimed at resolving Tajik's shortage of power supply in winter and adjusting its national power supply structure. Completed in 2016, the station restored central heating to Dushanbe residents after a 15-year hiatus.

During his first overseas trip as Chinese president in March 2013, Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (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, China has been committed to the path of peaceful development, and pursuing shared and win-win development with concrete actions to pass on the torch of peace through generations, sustain development and make civilization flourish. 

The construction of the Dushanbe No. 2 thermal power plant is just one of such cases. 

Sustaining development

In 2013, President Xi proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – a solution to boosting common development in the world. Eleven years on, the BRI has substantially strengthened partnerships, promoted connectivity and pushed forward common development worldwide.

By mid-February last year, China had signed over 200 cooperation agreements with 151 countries and 32 international organizations, according to official data. 

China's trade in goods with the BRI-related economies doubled from $1.04 trillion in 2013 to $2.07 trillion in 2022, with an average annual growth of 8 percent.

The BRI has also helped solve problems relating to poverty. According to a report from the World Bank, by 2030, the initiative could help lift 7.6 million people in partner countries out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty.

As an active contributor to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Xi put forward the Global Development Initiative (GDI) in 2021 at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which aims to steer global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth.

Moreover, China has established cooperative platforms such as the China International Import Expo, pushed forward free trade projects like the Hainan Free Trade Port, and joined multilateral mechanisms including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, in its endeavor to help expand international cooperation and share its development dividends with the rest of the world.

Safeguarding peace

Last April, the foreign ministers of China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran met in Beijing, marking a historic moment in Riyadh-Tehran relations. The two countries' resumption of diplomatic ties under China's mediation signals the possibility that humanity can rise above conflict and achieve reconciliation for common good.

The historic thaw came about a year after China proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which aims to eliminate the root causes of international conflicts, improve global security governance, encourage joint international efforts to bring more stability and certainty to a volatile and changing era, and promote durable peace and development in the world. 

Resumption of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran has been taken as a vivid example of the value of the initiative and China's peace efforts was widely hailed.

"The secretary-general has expressed his appreciation to the People's Republic of China for hosting these recent talks and for promoting dialogue between the two countries," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said while praising China's role in the process.

China's role in defending peace can also be seen in the Ukraine crisis. During the crisis, President Xi had in-depth communication with leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and played a constructive role in coping with the crisis. China also issued a position paper on the issue last February and sent special envoys to mediate.  

China's consistent effort to promote peace talks and cool down the situation in the Hamas-Israel conflict is seen as another example. 

Making civilization flourish

In addition to the GDI and GSI, China-proposed Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) is also believed to inject energy into the common development and progress of human society in a world fraught with multiple challenges and crises.

At the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting last March, President Xi proposed the GCI, calling for respecting the diversity of civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity, valuing the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and strengthening international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

Countries need to uphold the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations, and let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and inclusiveness transcend any sense of superiority, he said.

The Chinese president also called for jointly advocating robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, saying countries need to explore the building of a global network for inter-civilization dialogue and cooperation, enrich the content of exchanges and expand avenues of cooperation to promote mutual understanding and friendship among people of all countries, and jointly advance the progress of human civilizations.