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The PRC hosted the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of state summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1 and used it to promote Beijing’s vision for challenging the US-led international order and eroding US global influence. CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping announced the establishment of the Global Governance Initiative (GGI)—a framework for reforming global institutions—at the summit. The core principles underpinning the GGI, according to Xi, include giving a greater voice to developing countries on the world stage and promoting multilateralism—both implicit references to combating US global influence. Xi identified “the Cold War mentality, hegemonism, and protectionism” as central issues that the GGI must counter—again references to the United States. The PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a concept paper for the GGI, accompanying Xi‘s announcement, and identified three key issues affecting global governance: the Global South is underrepresented, the United Nations is losing relative influence and authority, and global governance organizations are ineffective at addressing international issues, such as sustainable development and climate change. The CCP framing of the GGI is consistent with CCP efforts to frame itself as the leader of the Global South and to legitimize it and its revisionist partners’ efforts to upend the US-led international order. PRC partners, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, endorsed the GGI upon its announcement.
The GGI is the latest in a series of international initiatives that Xi has established since 2020 to promote PRC-led mechanisms for global governance. The others are the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative. The PRC uses these initiatives to attract international support for its hegemonic agenda and portray itself as a fairer, more benign global leader than the United States.
PRC state media celebrated the attendance of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO summit. Modi met with Xi, marking the most significant milestone in a months-long rapprochement between India and the PRC. India has been traditionally a more skeptical participant of PRC institution-building on the world stage. The Modi-Xi meeting comes as tensions between the United States and India have increased, as Washington has imposed heavy tariffs on India for its continued import of Russian oil.
The PRC hosted an extravagant military parade immediately after the SCO summit to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Japanese surrender in World War II. Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the parade. The PRC likely scheduled the parade to immediately follow the SCO summit to give the impression of robust international support for the emergence of the PRC as a major military power and defender of the postwar global order.
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