China Releases White Paper on Global Governance Reform

Beijing, June 17, 2026 — The Chinese government on Wednesday released a comprehensive white paper titled “More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China’s Principles, Proposals and Actions,” articulating Beijing’s vision for reforming international institutions and advancing the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) proposed by President Xi Jinping in September 2025.

The document, issued by the State Council Information Office and running over 20,000 Chinese characters, comes at a time of profound global turbulence. As Xinhua News reported, the white paper is divided into five parts plus a preface and conclusion, detailing China’s principles for global governance and its contributions to international cooperation.

The Global Governance Initiative: A Framework for Reform

The white paper elaborates on the GGI, which Xi Jinping first proposed at the Tianjin Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in September 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. According to the full text of the white paper, the initiative is built on five core principles: sovereign equality, adherence to international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, a people-centered approach, and action-oriented results.

The document states that the GGI “swiftly gained support from nearly 160 countries and international organizations,” with over 60 countries joining the “Group of Friends of Global Governance” — a coalition officially launched at UN headquarters in New York in December 2025. As China Diplomacy reported, the group’s founding members committed to “deepening dialogue and coordination on global governance issues” and “amplifying our collective voice.”

Context: The Four Global Initiatives

The GGI represents the fourth and most comprehensive of China’s major global initiatives under Xi Jinping’s leadership. It follows the Global Development Initiative (GDI, 2021), the Global Security Initiative (GSI, 2022), and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI, 2023). The white paper positions the GGI as the “overarching operating system” that integrates the other three, focusing specifically on reforming global governance institutions to increase representation of the Global South.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s concept paper on the GGI, the initiative aims to address three critical deficiencies in the current international system: the serious underrepresentation of the Global South, the erosion of the UN Charter’s authority, and the urgent need for greater effectiveness in multilateral institutions.

Key Themes: Reform, Not Revolution

A central theme of the white paper is that the current international system “does not need to be torn down or reinvented” but rather reformed and improved. The document explicitly states that countries should “firmly uphold the international system with the UN at its core” and safeguard the international order based on international law, “instead of reinventing the wheel.”

This moderate positioning appears designed to reassure existing powers while advocating for significant changes. The white paper calls for reforming IMF quotas, World Bank voting shares, and WTO rules to better reflect contemporary economic realities, noting that Global South countries now account for over 60% of world GDP (by purchasing power parity) and 80% of global economic growth.

Critique of Western Dominance

While not naming specific countries, the white paper delivers pointed criticism of “unilateralism, protectionism, and hegemonism,” “trade wars and technology wars,” and “illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction” — widely understood as references to US policies. The document warns that “the law of the jungle is severely impacting international rule of law” and that the international system established after World War II is “being severely impacted by multiple crises.”

As CGTN reported in January, British expert Keith Bennett, vice chair of the 48 Group Club, described the GGI as offering an alternative to the “capricious and bullying” behavior of some major powers, noting that the initiative’s message “resonates with the Global South in particular.”

China’s Contributions to Global Governance

The white paper devotes extensive space to cataloging China’s contributions across multiple domains: peacekeeping (China is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the largest troop contributor among permanent Security Council members), development (the Belt and Road Initiative has generated trade of 23.6 trillion yuan with partner countries in 2025), climate action, and global health.

It also highlights China’s role in mediating international conflicts, including the Saudi Arabia-Iran rapprochement in 2023 and the convening of Palestinian factions in Beijing for reconciliation talks.

International Reception and Outlook

The GGI has created what analysts describe as a “dual perception” — welcomed by many developing nations as a constructive, non-interfering partnership framework, while viewed with skepticism by Western powers as a geopolitical tool for reshaping the international order. As the South China Morning Post noted in its analysis of the initiative’s launch, observers said the GGI reflects China’s ambition to shape a multipolar world, but cautioned it needs more substance to avoid becoming an “empty shell.”

The white paper’s release on June 17 comes as China prepares to host APEC 2026 under the theme “Building an Asia-Pacific Community for Shared Prosperity,” providing a platform to advance these governance concepts in the Asia-Pacific context. The document concludes with a call for nations to “unite and cooperate” to address deficits in peace, security, development, and trust, warning that humanity is at a “critical juncture where it must either advance or retreat.”

What to Watch

As the international community digests the white paper’s proposals, several key questions remain: How will major Western powers formally respond to the GGI framework? Can China translate broad principles into concrete institutional reforms at the IMF, World Bank, and UN Security Council? And will the initiative’s emphasis on working within the UN system withstand tensions with existing power structures? The coming months, particularly as China assumes the APEC presidency, will provide early indicators of the GGI’s trajectory.