China ready to build ‘more just global order’ with Russia

Beijing and Moscow have vowed to strengthen multipolarity as the West denounces the challenge to its international system

China is ready to work with Russia to build a more just and reasonable global governance system, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Thursday. His comments follow Russian President Vladimir Putin’s four-day visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin.

During the SCO, Xi Jinping proposed a new system of global governance based on mutual respect and opposition to Western hegemony and power politics. Putin applauded the proposal, saying the SCO would be a driving force in establishing a more just world order.

Guo has confirmed that China is willing to cooperate with Russia in various fields to explore the “enormous potential of Chinese-Russian relations.” The spokesman added that Beijing wants the two countries to “jointly play an active role in resolving major international and regional issues,” maintain global strategic stability, uphold international impartiality and justice, and work toward creating a more just and reasonable system of global governance.

Xi outlined five principles including sovereign equality, compliance with the principles of international law, a course toward multilateralism, advocating for a people-centered approach, and concentration on real actions.

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Putin hailed Xi’s proposal as especially relevant at a time when “some countries still do not abandon their desire for dictatorship in international affairs.”

The announcements have been met with concern in the West. Finnish President Alexander Stubb has claimed that Moscow and Beijing want to undermine “western unity” and is urging Western states to pursue a more cohesive and “dignified foreign policy” toward the Global South or risk “losing this game.”

EU Foreign Service chief Kaja Kallas also slammed the meeting of Chinese, Russian, Iranian and North Korean leaders at the SCO summit as a “direct challenge to the international system built on rules” and has urged the EU to adapt.