Promoting Global Governance to Catalyze Shared Development

By HU BILIANG

POVERTY is still a major issue plaguing the modern world. In the 65 countries including China along the Belt and Road route， only 18 are high-income countries， with the per capita GDP reaching US $27，000. There are 22 countries in the upper-middle-income bracket as the average per capita GDP in these countries stands at US $7，000. The number of lower-middle-income nations is 23， having an average per capita GDP less than US $2，500. The remaining two， Afghanistan and Nepal， have their GDP per capita share of US $1，000.

Poverty： the Direct Result of a Flawed Global Governance System

In addition to domestic factors that result in poverty， international ones also exert impacts on regional development， and global governance is a nonnegligible factor. If the global governance mechanism is capable of providing timely and effective support to underdeveloped countries or regions， the situation may be different.

The global governance apparatus， in fact， has significantly contributed to elevating a number of countries from underdeveloped circumstances to developed ones. The development of China over the past four decades is a case in point. After the initiation of the reform and opening-up， the country managed an average annual economic growth of 9.5 percent and raised over 700 million poor people out of poverty. The achievements not only originate from its own strength， but also from the global governance system， which channeled in both direct financial support and intellectual and knowledge-based backup.

But the global governance system today is still encumbered by shortfalls. For instance， the public goods and services provided by global governance institutions to less developed countries are seriously inadequate， the loans and aid offered to the worlds poorest nations are also insufficient.

From the aspect of quality， some global governance institutions， such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank， when devising institutional reform schemes for less developed countries， often fail to advance targeted policies and strategic proposals due to lack of comprehensive consideration of divergent circumstances in different nations， only offering a “panacea” with the intention to “cure all diseases.”

Global Governance Mechanism Reform： the Irresistible Trend

The priority is focused on creating an interconnected global network. Sound interconnectivity plus more generalized participation will guarantee the shaping of an improved global governance system.

The BRI is carried out under the principle of pursuing shared growth through consultation and collaboration， and all the participating parties， leveraging their respective resource endowment， utilize comparative advantages and conduct equitable cooperation to ultimately achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. This contributes to the realization of the goal of inclusive and common development.

The current age is ushering in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. All countries around the globe are confronted with profound changes unseen over the past century； there exist severe challenges and huge development opportunities. Developing nations， in particular， should they succeed in making good use of this new historic opportunity， will possibly achieve a great leap in development.

In order to promote the BRI， China， together with related countries， in line with their practical needs and common desire， has innovatively established a number of new global governance institutions， such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank， which are the newly added global financial governance bodies. This will directly help increase the supply of funds to underdeveloped countries and regions in the world which face difficulty in obtaining financing from the current international financial institutions， and accelerate their development.

In short， the joint construction of the BRI is beneficial in enhancing and strengthening the global governance mechanism from different aspects. As understanding of the initiative deepens， a broad consensus is built， and measures are put in place， the existing global governance system will be further improved and play a more important role in driving global common development.