Breaking the impasse in global governance: China's approach

The 2026 Global Governance Forum (Xiongan) is taking place from October 23 to 25 in Xiongan New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Its theme, "Rebuilding Confidence and Cooperation: Reforming and Improving Global Governance in a Transforming World," addresses a central challenge of our time. Protracted geopolitical conflicts, rising protectionism and a sluggish economic recovery have heightened doubts about the fairness of existing rules, the effectiveness of institutions and the credibility of international commitments. At the heart of the global governance deficit lies a deficit of trust.

The first year of China's Global Governance Initiative (GGI) offers a lens through which to examine how that trust might be rebuilt. Four themes stand out: action, synergy, complementarity and pragmatism. Together, they offer a perspective on China's approach to reforming and improving global governance.

'Action' that turns ideas into institutions

Over the past year, the GGI has gained support from nearly 160 countries and international organizations, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Group of Friends of Global Governance has been launched at the UN Office in 2025. The World Data Organization has been established in Beijing in March 2026. The International Organization for Mediation successfully mediated its first international maritime dispute in early May.

These developments reflect "action orientation," one of the GGI's five core concepts. Declarations express intentions; institutions help translate commitments into practice. What ultimately matters is whether these platforms work and deliver. Confidence in international cooperation is built through sustained action and results that countries can see for themselves.

'Synergy' across the four global initiatives

The Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative address deficits in development and security, as well as divides between civilizations. They define the agenda for cooperation: what needs to be done. The GGI focuses on improving governance arrangements and putting shared rules into practice. It asks how countries can achieve those goals together.

The four initiatives have distinct priorities, but they reinforce one another. Development creates momentum for cooperation, security provides the conditions for it, dialogue among civilizations deepens mutual understanding, and governance reform offers institutional support.

The GGI is therefore not simply another item on the international agenda. It connects shared objectives with the principles and mechanisms needed to pursue them. Without an agenda, reform risks losing direction; without institutional support, cooperation is difficult to sustain.

'Complementarity' through reform, not replacement

China upholds the international system with the United Nations at its core and supports reform within existing multilateral frameworks. At the same time, it seeks to fill gaps where current arrangements fall short. The two goals need not be in conflict.

The International Organization for Mediation offers an additional avenue for resolving disputes beyond litigation and arbitration, one that can reduce costs and help preserve relationships between the parties. The newly established World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, meanwhile, responds to the widening gap between rapid technological advances and the slower development of international rules. Both provide public goods where cooperation falls short. Neither is designed as an alternative to existing institutions.

The aim is a governance system that is fairer, more inclusive and better able to address shared problems. Complementarity, not institutional rivalry, is the more constructive path.

'Pragmatism' in managing differences

The purpose of global governance is not to eliminate every disagreement. It is to keep differences from escalating into confrontation and to preserve room for cooperation.

One practical approach is to turn contentious disputes into negotiations over specific rules. In January 2026, China and the European Union agreed that Chinese exporters of battery electric vehicles should receive general guidance on submitting price undertaking offers. The move gave their tariff dispute a more concrete basis for negotiation.

Another approach is to manage disagreements while continuing to cooperate where interests overlap. China and ASEAN countries have pressed ahead with consultations on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea alongside practical cooperation, including maritime search and rescue.

Neither example suggests that the underlying disagreements have disappeared. What both show is that useful cooperation need not wait for complete agreement. Trust can grow out of working together; it does not have to be a precondition for it.

From Xiongan, the next step is to turn consensus into outcomes. Cooperation on artificial intelligence, climate change and development finance needs to produce practical results, and emerging mechanisms need to work in step with the existing multilateral system. The real test of reform is not how many institutions are created, but how many common problems they help solve.

Since its establishment in 2017, Xiongan New Area has been developed according to a long-term plan, with construction and development proceeding in stages.

Global governance demands the same patience and persistence: translating consensus into action and building confidence through cooperation. That, more than any single declaration, is how the impasse can be broken.