Chinese modernization: A contribution to the human civilization

Editor's note: Pang Xinhua is a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

In today's world, modernization has long been reduced to a Western model. Many developing countries have fallen into turmoil and stagnation after mechanically copying Western paths of development. Breaking the myth that "modernization equals Westernization," Chinese modernization has pioneered a new form of human civilization. Amid global shifts, it has not only rewritten the historical trajectory of major-country rise but also blazed an independent path for Global South nations, offering Chinese solutions to improve global governance.

Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation and the Global Partnership for Poverty Reduction and Development established in May 2026, Chinese modernization has consistently empowered the collective rise of developing countries. Supported by four major global governance initiatives, China stands firmly as a staunch defender of multilateralism, contributing major-country wisdom to address the governance deficit.

Forging a new civilizational path for non-Western modernization

For a long time, Western modernization completed primitive accumulation through colonial plunder, wealth disparity, and foreign wars, becoming the only template for many latecomer countries. Numerous nations of the Global South mechanically transplanted Western institutional models, only to end up trapped in the middle-income trap and political unrest.

Centered on peaceful development, common prosperity, as well as harmony between humanity and nature, Chinese modernization has opened up a brand-new path free from external expansion and wealth polarization.

An article titled "What Africa Can Learn from China's Rise" published by Foreign Policy pointed out bluntly that many African countries formulate development plans based on Western electoral cycles, leading to frequent policy reversals and unfinished development agendas. The most valuable experience of Chinese modernization lies in steadily advancing infrastructure construction, manufacturing upgrading, and talent cultivation through long-term strategic planning, rather than pursuing short-term political gains. It stressed that highways, railways, ports and other infrastructure are not economic luxuries but cornerstones of industrialization – a long-missing prerequisite for development across the developing world.

World Bank statistics show that over the past decade, China lifted nearly 100 million rural people out of poverty without engaging in colonial expansion. This tangible achievement proves that there is no single one-size-fits-all model for modernization. Late-developing nations can fully explore independent development paths suited to their national conditions. As a new form of human civilization, Chinese modernization provides a vivid example for developing countries to break free from path dependence.

Powering the collective rise of the Global South

Chinese modernization is not an isolated pursuit of national prosperity, but a win-win process of common development with partners. High-quality BRI cooperation and the Global Partnership for Poverty Reduction and Development, officially launched in May 2026, serve as two core vehicles for the international outreach of Chinese modernization, continuously boosting the development momentum of the Global South.

Launched in Beijing on May 27, the Global Partnership for Poverty Reduction and Development was co-initiated by 53 countries and nine international organizations, drawing more than 350 representatives worldwide. It prioritizes sharing China's experience in targeted poverty alleviation and rural development, launching a large number of small yet effective livelihood projects to consolidate the foundation for poverty reduction in developing countries.

According to the United Nations Development Program, 1.1 billion people worldwide still live in multidimensional poverty. The partnership builds a platform for South-South cooperation, translating China's poverty governance experience into replicable global public goods to shore up weak links in global sustainable development.

Meanwhile, high-quality BRI cooperation has deepened steadily. In the first four months of 2026, trade in goods between China and BRI partner countries reached 8.28 trillion Chinese yuan ($1.2 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 13.5%, making up nearly half of China's total foreign trade. World Bank assessments estimate that BRI transport projects have significantly cut trade costs for participating nations and raised residents' average income.

Flagship projects, including the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, China-Laos Railway, and Budapest-Belgrade Railway, have formed regional logistics arteries. Industrial parks in Ethiopia have built up local manufacturing chains via industrial transfer from China. A growing number of developing countries have moved up the global industrial chain, breaking away from the old pattern of merely exporting raw materials.

Western media have repeatedly hyped up fallacies such as "overcapacity" and "geopolitical expansion." The Economist refuted such arguments in its article "Europe's industrial woes should not be blamed on China." It noted that the EU's persistent goods trade deficit with China stems mainly from eroding industrial competitiveness, sky-high energy costs and rigid market regulation. Data from German think tanks shows that only one-third of Europe's manufacturing decline can be attributed to external competition, while most results from lagging domestic reforms.

China-EU economic and trade relations are mutually complementary. China's industrial upgrading creates opportunities for industrial relocation across the Global South rather than dealing blows to other countries' industries. Relying on these two multilateral cooperation platforms, Chinese modernization continues to narrow the North-South development gap, strongly driving the collective rise of the Global South and creating a new landscape in which multiple countries march toward modernization side by side.

Honoring major-country responsibility for shared benefits

From development cooperation to global governance, China has always been a participant, builder, and defender of the international order. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism has aggravated imbalances in the global governance system, where a small number of developed countries monopolize rule-making while developing nations lack adequate voice. Upholding genuine multilateralism, Chinese modernization always stands with the Global South and firmly safeguards the shared interests of developing countries.

In trade governance, China consistently opposes trade barriers and technological blockades to stabilize global industrial and supply chains. On food security, climate governance and debt restructuring, China offers active assistance to developing countries in the South. By the end of 2025, China had carried out debt treatment cooperation with more than 30 developing countries, fulfilling its G20 debt moratorium commitments and ranking first among G20 members in the scale of debt relief.

Amid the global food crisis, China has continuously provided hybrid rice technology assistance to African, Southeast Asian and other countries, helping them achieve food self-sufficiency and counterbalancing global development imbalances with concrete actions.

In major international multilateral mechanisms, China continues to promote the expansion of the BRICS grouping and the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, elevating the collective bargaining power of the Global South and steering the global governance architecture toward greater balance and inclusiveness.

The win-win philosophy embodied in Chinese modernization has broken the historical curse that a rising power is bound to seek hegemony, bringing stability to a world undergoing profound changes and turmoil.

Building a systematic framework to improve global governance

To address the epochal question: What kind of global governance system should we build? And how can we reform and improve it? China has put forward the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative. Together they form a logically coherent, progressive systematic package to tackle the four major deficits plaguing global governance.

By the first half of 2026, the four initiatives have won support from nearly 160 countries and international organizations, with more than 60 countries setting up Groups of Friends of the Global Governance Initiative, building broad international consensus.

The Global Development Initiative advances the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda with over 200 livelihood cooperation projects. The Global Security Initiative advocates a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security vision to reject bloc confrontation. The Global Civilization Initiative champions equal dialogue among civilizations and rejects the theory of civilizational superiority. The newly launched Global Governance Initiative targets inequities in the current global governance system, advocating equal rights for all countries, big and small, to participate in rule-making.

Unlike Western governance models that often come with political strings attached, the Chinese solution adheres to non-interference in internal affairs, respects state sovereignty, and rejects ideological demarcation. Think tanks in Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and beyond widely recognize that the four initiatives are rooted in the realities of South-South cooperation, balance the right to development and the right to governance, and chart a feasible path to reform the unreasonable old international order.

The governance wisdom embedded in Chinese modernization is being turned into global public goods, steadily pushing global governance toward greater fairness and rationality.

Looking back through human history, modernization has never been a privilege reserved for a handful of nations. By pioneering a new form of civilization, Chinese modernization has reshaped the logic of major-country development and offered a new independent development paradigm for all countries of the Global South.

The high-quality BRI weaves an interconnected network; the Global Partnership for Poverty Reduction and Development pools strength for South-South poverty alleviation; the four global governance initiatives address worldwide challenges.

Amid the great changes unseen in a century, Chinese modernization will continue to expand win-win international cooperation and provide new pathways for the progress of all of human civilization.

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