Editor's Note: As 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, CGTN presents "Forging a Peaceful Future," a special series of in-depth news analyses. These stories delve into the history, explore the post-war world order, and highlight how China's past has shaped its sustained contributions to global peace today.

In the stately Conference Building at the United Nations Headquarters, a bronze vessel gleams under soft lights. The "Zun of Peace," presented by President Xi Jinping in 2015 to mark the UN's 70th anniversary, is adorned with motifs of harmony and hope. At the unveiling, Xi explained that it embodies China's aspiration for peace, development, cooperation and win–win outcomes.

Years later, as conflicts and uncertainties test the international order, the vessel still resonates with meaning. It stands as a reminder of the epochal question facing humanity right now: What kind of a world we want to live in and how to build it. President Xi's answer is the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity – an idea that charts a course for peace and development at a historical crossroads, while uniting nations around a shared aspiration for progress.

Drawing lessons from history

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Commemorating this milestone is about honoring the past while safeguarding peace for the future.

Xi has long emphasized that history warns against the horrors of war, while reminding us that peace, like air and sunshine, must be cherished. He has pledged that no matter how strong China becomes, it will never seek hegemony or expansion.

China is the only country in the world that pledges to "keep to a path of peaceful development" in its Constitution and the only nuclear-armed state to commit to no first use of nuclear weapons. It is also the largest contributor of peacekeepers among the UN Security Council's permanent members and the second-largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping.

Xi has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). Together, they offer solutions to global challenges as they are put into practice to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

These initiatives have gained broad support. More than 150 countries have joined the Belt and Road cooperation framework, over 100 countries and international organizations have participated in the GDI, as the GSI has received backing from more than 130 countries and has been incorporated into more than 140 bilateral and multilateral documents.

Multilateralism in action

The "Zun of Peace" also carries another message – that international affairs should be discussed and decided by all. Xi has likened multilateralism to a torch that lights the way forward, urging the world to reject unilateralism and power politics and practice.

"The problems facing the world are intricate and complex. The way out of them is through upholding multilateralism and building a community with a shared future for humanity," said Xi.

China has acted on this vision. It proposed four-point political pathways for resolving the Ukraine crisis, facilitated dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Beijing, and advocated for stronger representation of emerging economies and developing countries in global governance.

At Xi's urging, the African Union was admitted to the G20, and BRICS expanded its membership in 2023, showing that multilateralism can be inclusive. These steps demonstrated China's role as a builder of peace and a promoter of equity.

In Xi's own words, "every increase of China's strength is an increase of the prospects of world peace." The "Zun of Peace" stands as a reminder that China's rise is tied not to dominance, but to the vision of a shared future for all.

Read more:

Taiwan's return to China: An integral part of the post-WWII international order

80 years on, Japan's wartime denial still shadows China-Japan ties

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