Cooperation the only way to build a just world for common development

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G20 leaders "must see the world as one community with a shared future, and shoulder their responsibility for history, take historical initiative and move history forward," Chinese President Xi Jinping made the remarks at the 19th G20 summit on November 19.

At the Hangzhou summit, China placed development at the center of the G20's macroeconomic policy coordination for the first time, and the Rio summit this year decides to establish a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. As Xi noted, from Hangzhou to Rio, G20 leaders have been working towards one and the same goal – to build a just world of common development.

Throughout history, each generation has had to present solutions to its problems. That said, humanity is now facing a new range of problems, such as the impacts of climate change, the limited supply of natural resources, the scourge of hunger that still affects more than 700 million people around the world, the enormous income inequality between individuals and countries, the migratory flows caused by political, economic and environmental problems, international organized crime, the increase in selfishness and protectionism among the richest countries and the enormous demands of countries in the Global South for infrastructure to build a more advanced material base that guarantees a better standard of living for their populations.

It is essential to emphasize that the major problems of today cannot be solved by any country individually. Extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, fires, extreme heat, etc., affect poor and rich countries and do not respect borders. Criminal organizations operate internationally in an organized manner, committing crimes and laundering illegally obtained money in the global financial system. The desperation that leads millions of people to emigrate from their countries is a problem that also affects the populations of the countries that receive this flow.

In this regard, it is important to emphasize that solutions to such a wide range of problems are not simple and cannot be resolved selfishly and at the expense of third-party interests. On the contrary, they require international cooperation and coordination.

Over the last few years, G20 discussions previously restricted to economic and financial issues have now incorporated debates on sustainable development and the UN's 2030 Agenda, climate change, women's and labor rights, the internet and technology, cities, health, taxation and so forth.

A topic prioritized by Brazil's G20 presidency is the fight against hunger and poverty. In this regard, China and Brazil have experiences that can be shared with other developing countries. China has managed to eradicate extreme poverty through general policies focused on the specificities of each community.

Brazil has managed to alleviate extreme poverty through income transfers and conditionality related to education and health that families must meet to access the benefits. These experiences will be essential for the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.

However, more important than achieving a consensus at a meeting as important as the G20 is the creation of concrete measures to advance the agreed agendas. In his Monday speech, Xi presented eight actions to support global development. As he noted, "a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step," and China is ready to take steps with all parties for a just world of common development.

The China-proposed Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative and Belt and Road Initiative are becoming international public assets that offer a path to building actions that help overcome the immense challenges faced by humanity.

These initiatives are a counterpoint to selfishness and unilateralism by pointing out that development is essential to overcoming hunger and poverty, that no country can guarantee its security at the expense of others, that peaceful coexistence between civilizations presupposes respect for the specificities of each culture, and, above all, that building infrastructure is one of the best ways to guarantee progress and address inequalities.

China and Brazil have been partners in many global debates since 1974 when relations between Beijing and Brasília were established. Both countries have respected voices defending a peaceful, fair, and multilateral international order. The two governments are partners in the political and economic integration of the Global South countries.

Both Chinese and Brazilian leaders value international cooperation for sustainable development. The two countries understand that humanity's most significant challenges can only be solved collectively and sincerely. Problems will always exist, but the current challenges will be faced with more cooperation and less selfishness.

The author Marcos Cordeiro Pires is a professor of international political economy at São Paulo State University.

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