During a Monday forum discussing the United Nations' legacy since its founding 80 years ago and global governance, the China-proposed Global Governance Initiative (GGI) was the central topic.

Speaking at the forum, China's permanent representative to the UN, Fu Cong, highlighted that the GGI was proposed against a backdrop of mounting pressure on the international system with the UN at its core, due to the under-representation of the Global South, the rise of unilateralism, and a collective inability to effectively address modern global challenges.

First unveiled at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin on September 1, the initiative has since been reiterated by China in bilateral meetings, multilateral summit, diplomatic statements, and welcomed by many countries and international organizations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the initiative's commitment to multilateralism and its focus on safeguarding the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law.

The GGI outlines five core principles: adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating the people-centered approach, and focusing on taking concrete actions.

The five core concepts of the GGI stem from the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and respond to the shared aspiration of most countries, according to the Concept Paper on the Global Governance Initiative, issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

To reform and improve global governance does not mean to overturn the existing international order or to create another framework outside the current international system, it said.

Rather, the goal is to make the existing international system and international institutions better at taking actions, working effectively, adapting to changes, responding promptly and effectively to various global challenges, and serving the interests of all countries, particularly developing ones, according to the paper.

In the concept paper of the Global Governance Initiative, China explicitly reiterates its firm support for the UN system and fully recognizes the historic contributions made by the UN over the past 80 years to world peace and development, according to Long Chen, an assistant researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.

The initiative powerfully refutes the rhetoric that China intends to "subvert" the existing international system, Long wrote, noting that in recent years, some European and American countries have repeatedly portrayed China as a "subverter" of the existing international order, ignoring the fact that China has always taken concrete actions to uphold the UN-centered international system and respects and safeguards the authority of the UN.

Tian Dewen, a senior researcher at the Institute of Global Governance and Development of Renmin University of China, said that the GGI addresses several misconceptions about China's peaceful development, especially the belief that "a rising power is bound to seek hegemony."

Tian told media that China shows no interest in seeking global dominance and is not attempting to create a new international order outside of the post-WWII system. Instead, he describes China as a "defender, builder, and reformer" of that order.

According to Tian, China's approach to global governance is to advocate for joint action rather than dictating rules for the world. He said that China will never act unilaterally, consistently promoting the principle that global issues must be addressed through consultation among all nations.