云南：千树万树梨花开

In his report to the 20th CPC National Congress in 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted that the CPC stands ready to boost exchanges and cooperation with political parties and organizations of other countries based on the principles of independence, complete equality, mutual respect, and noninterference in each other’s internal affairs. Since the beginning of the new era that began in 2012, amid global changes on a scale unseen in a century and grounded in a new form of international relations, the CPC has endeavored to forge a new type of party-to-party relations that features seeking common ground while reserving differences and respecting and learning from each other. This has led to more extensive and profound exchanges and interactions between political parties than ever before.

I. A historic leap in the new era

A pioneer in the joint exploration of governance principles among political parties globally

Throughout the evolution of global party politics over the past three centuries, political parties, especially governing parties, have faced the essential challenge of how to understand objective laws to ensure effective governance. In light of the significant global changes today and in response to rapidly shifting internal and external landscapes coupled with constantly emerging problems, it has become even more pressing for political parties, governing parties in particular, to systematically summarize experience and lessons, explore governance norms, and enhance governance capacity and standards.

Against this backdrop, the CPC has conducted an in-depth analysis of evolving global dynamics and the developmental trajectories of global party politics, drawing lessons from the rise and fall of political parties, particularly large parties in major nations. By applying these insights into its own practices, the CPC has deepened its understanding of the fundamental principles underlying the governance of a communist party, the development of socialism, and the advancement of human society.

Visitors explore the Xiong’an Convention and Exhibition Center, Hebei Province, June 27, 2024. The guests attended a briefing on the same day entitled “Stories of CPC—Xiong’an’s Achievements in Practicing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” which was hosted by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, in conjunction with the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee and the CPC Working Committee in Xiong’an New Area. Over 230 political party leaders and representatives from nearly 40 countries attended the event. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER MU YU

These efforts have garnered widespread international attention. Observers have declared that Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, along with China’s explorations and practices, offers valuable insights and serves as an important reference for political parties, governing parties in particular, to further deepen their comprehension of governance principles and better fulfill their responsibilities. This has also bolstered their confidence and resolve to chart development paths suited to their own national conditions. Notably, several political parties have even proposed visions for building “socialism with their distinctive national features.”

An advocator of global party-to-party exchanges of governance experience

Since 2012, against the backdrop of a volatile and tumultuous international environment, the CPC has, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, given greater consideration to both domestic and international contexts as well as development and security imperatives. By keeping firm focus on peaceful development and national rejuvenation, the CPC has led the Chinese people in achieving remarkable milestones in governance, including rapid economic growth, enduring social stability, and a steady rise in international influence and appeal. China’s governance in the new era has attracted widespread global attention, fueling increased international engagement in exchanges and mutual learning with the CPC. 

In response, the CPC has embraced a program of both inbound and outbound visits, presenting its practices and China’s narrative to the world in an engaging, dynamic, and diverse way. All this helps transform the CPC’s governance experience and China’s insights into shared intellectual resources that assist political parties worldwide in enhancing governance capacity and contribute to global stability, development, and prosperity.

Meanwhile, maintaining a modest and open attitude, the CPC has vigorously engaged in theoretical dialogues with political parties from relevant countries. Through exchanges on governing philosophy in our era, the CPC has drawn extensively from the valuable experience and practices of political parties around the world. As noted by many foreign political parties, the CPC is not only eager to learn from global governance expertise but also willing to share its own approaches. 

These governance exchanges championed by the CPC are now producing tangible results globally, providing substantial support for political parties worldwide in overcoming governance complexities and pursuing common development priorities.

A promoter for strengthening engagement and collaboration among political parties around the world

Amid profound, once-in-a-century global changes, countries are more interconnected than ever, with foreign policy and domestic politics increasingly interlinked. Within this context, friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation among political parties have become a distinctive feature of international relations.

As a large party in a major country, the CPC has remained committed to building a better world grounded in openness and inclusiveness. We refuse ideological divisions, oppose differential treatment based on national strength or size, reject exporting models or preaching to others, and never seek to impose our will on any other country. Instead, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, the CPC engages in wide-ranging dialogues and exchanges with legitimate political parties and organizations of various types worldwide, to enhance trust, remove doubts, and foster friendship and cooperation. 

As part of these efforts, the CPC has created a rich array of bilateral and multilateral platforms for party-to-party dialogue. This includes hosting multiple editions of the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting and establishing collaboration mechanisms for think tanks and media outlets through party-to-party channels. These initiatives have helped enrich and improve the global network of political party partnerships. As of the end of 2024, the CPC has maintained regular contact with over 700 political parties and organizations from more than 170 countries. Many foreign political parties have noted that by transcending ideological divides through sincere engagement, the CPC has pioneered a new model for fostering mutual political trust and building consensus, thus playing a crucial role in facilitating party-to-party communication and collaboration worldwide.

A supporter for mobilizing political parties worldwide to jointly deliver global public goods

Momentous changes unseen in a century have accelerated shifts in the global governance, landscape, growth drivers, and development models. We have witnessed frequent flare-ups of hotspot issues alongside continued spread of traditional and non-traditional security threats. These challenges are further complicated by rising populism, conservatism, and extremism in global discourse, exposing growing deficiencies and inadequacies in the existing global governance framework and severe shortages in the supply of global public goods.

Amid these challenges, General Secretary Xi has advanced a great vision—building a global community of shared future—complemented by three global initiatives (the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilizations Initiative) alongside the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Together, these provide landmark global public goods to the international community. Notably, the vision of a global community of shared future has been included in the UN General Assembly resolutions for eight consecutive years, with its core principles integrated into the UN’s Pact for the Future. 

General Secretary Xi has also articulated the common human values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom, offering essential value-oriented guidance for reforming and improving the global governance system. As growing numbers of China’s initiatives evolve into international consensus, the intellectual and conceptual foundation for political parties worldwide to jointly develop new global public goods has been strengthened, with substantially enhanced collective initiative and proactive engagement. Moreover, the CPC has actively championed efforts to build an open world economy and reform and improve the global governance system, and steered and propelled BRICS cooperation and the Global South in achieving greater strength through unity.

Political parties from various countries acknowledge that the CPC is advancing genuine multilateralism through delivering open and inclusive global public goods and thus increasingly becoming an important force for driving the reform and improvement of the global governance system. They stand ready to work with the CPC to make ever greater contributions in addressing common global challenges.

II. New prospects and challenges

The responsibilities of political parties in a changing world have become increasingly prominent, creating conditions for fostering a new type of relations between the CPC and political parties worldwide

As once-in-a-century global changes evolve at a faster pace, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, standing once again at a critical crossroads. 

On the one hand, drivers of global instability, uncertainty, and insecurity are intensifying amid compounding challenges—from geopolitical rivalries and economic stagnation to governance dilemmas, disruptive technological shifts, and threats of hegemonism and power politics.

Young international sinologists participate in an exhibition titled “Messengers Bridging Chinese and Foreign Civilizations” during the opening ceremony of the Second World Conference of Sinologists, Nanping City, Fujian Province, October 27, 2024. Under the theme of “Understanding Chinese Civilization to Jointly Promote Global Modernization,” the conference welcomed more than 200 Chinese and foreign representatives from 60 countries. INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF THE CPC CENTRAL COMMITTEE

On the other hand, people across all countries now more than ever yearn for peaceful development, equity, justice, and mutually beneficial cooperation. This is exemplified by the collective rise of the Global South, the growing embrace of the vision of a global community of shared future, and the substantial progress that has been made in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. Positive factors contributing to stability and development in the international community continue to accrue.

Where is our world headed? In the face of this defining question of our times and profound international changes, political parties now shoulder a greater responsibility as policymakers, public representatives, and public opinion leaders, to confront challenges directly and seize opportunities from crises in a world of turbulence and transformation. Yet retreating behind closed doors is no solution. The prudent path forward lies in strengthening collaboration with political parties across the globe to jointly address common challenges and uphold our collective responsibility for this interconnected world. This represents the major driver for establishing a new type of party-to-party relations. 

Governance challenges arising from social transformations have grown more acute, helping build consensus on forging a new type of relations between the CPC and political parties worldwide

At present, many countries are experiencing increasing domestic imbalances and social disorder, marked by institutional voids, eroding public confidence, and vanishing consensus. These conditions have normalized escalating political fragmentation among parties and the rise of populist and radical ideologies. Meanwhile, the new round of scientific and technological revolution, spearheaded by advances in artificial intelligence, is permeating all domains, facets, and levels of society. This revolution is profoundly impacting and reshaping both the internal and external environments, interaction models, and even the underlying logic of social governance, thereby creating many new governance challenges for political parties across the globe. As social transformations deepen under new circumstances, many political parties increasingly find their governance entering uncharted waters—navigating without established precedents or proven models. It is therefore crucial for political parties worldwide to bolster exchanges, harness collective wisdom, and coordinate efforts to achieve shared development and progress. This galvanizes global consensus on forging a new type of party-to-party relations.

Global divisions and realignments have raised greater requirements for political party exchanges and cooperation, creating opportunities for establishing a new type of relations between the CPC and political parties worldwide

The international community today witnesses an ongoing contest between destructive and constructive forces, an interplay between the trends of economic globalization and deglobalization, and a clash between conservative and progressive ideologies. Amid such turbulence and change, the global landscape is evolving in complex ways. As divisions and realignments deepen in the international community, the risks of conflict and confrontation remain consistently high. The array of global challenges stemming from these developments is exerting profound impacts on the domestic and foreign policies of nations worldwide. Against this backdrop, no nation or political party can afford to isolate itself or single-handedly confront the problems and risks arising from international divisions and realignments. It has become more urgent than ever for political parties worldwide to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, forging stronger institutional ties to “huddle together for warmth” in jointly addressing these challenges. All this underscores the urgency and necessity of building a new type of party-to-party relations.

III. Global partnerships and a new type of party-to-party relations 

Advancing the global network of political party partnerships

Building on the implementation of the three global initiatives, we should further promote political dialogue between the CPC and political parties worldwide, with a focus on pressing international hotspot issues as well as critical challenges concerning the future of humanity. In a world marked by turbulence and transformation, it is vital to address conflicts, bridge differences, and forge broader consensus toward building a global network of political party partnerships. In responding to changes in domestic and international situations, we need to adopt a wide range of traditional and non-traditional, bilateral and multilateral, multi-stakeholder and multi-track approaches and forms to enrich and develop the multi-layered architecture underpinning this network.

Moreover, we should further strengthen systematic planning and design and create new working methods to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting. We should also pioneer innovative regional and sub-regional platforms for exchange and dialogue within this framework. At the same time, we will actively participate in various international and regional multilateral party conferences while deepening party-to-party engagement under BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and other major multilateral diplomatic mechanisms.

Promoting mutual learning

Responding to the international community’s needs and aspirations, we should enhance and deepen exchanges with world political parties on governance issues and further articulate the core principles and global significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We will intensify innovation in both inbound and outbound programs by refining and upgrading exchange mechanisms such as CPC delegation visits, thematic briefings, and regional promotional seminars.

Furthermore, to adapt to the new situation and tasks amid profound global changes, we will actively advance diversified, multi-dimensional, and multi-faceted theoretical exchanges and practical cooperation with political parties worldwide. This includes strengthening support for political figures from various countries and political parties to visit China for study, exchange, and research and facilitating more Chinese personnel to engage in exchanges abroad.

Deepening development cooperation

Focusing on the pursuit of an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, we should continue strengthening the global network of political party partnerships and enhance practical cooperation with political parties worldwide on development issues. To this end, priority will be given to aligning development strategies, philosophies, and policies with other political parties in key areas such as poverty alleviation, food security, green development, technological innovation, and the digital economy. These efforts will help safeguard the general trend of economic globalization and the pattern of mutual benefit and foster an open world economy.

In addition, we should further amplify the role of politics in driving economic development by upgrading Political Party Plus platforms. Specifically, this includes optimizing models such as Political Party Plus Sub-national Cooperation and Political Party Plus Enterprise Partnerships, alongside establishing more business dialogue mechanisms to support high-quality economic and social progress. We will also work to highlight the global significance of Chinese modernization and actively support governing parties in other countries in independently exploring modernization paths suited to their own national conditions. Through such collaboration, we can jointly expand and enrich approaches to modernization and advance humanity,s pursuit of modernization.

Fostering people-to-people connectivity

We should further refine the integrated framework of party-to-party, public, and people-to-people diplomacy, leveraging party-to-party engagement to invigorate exchanges in the other two domains. Priority will be given to strengthening international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation by creating flagship projects in and across fields such as education, science and technology, health, sports, and tourism. This will help establish a multi-tiered, multi-sector architecture for cultural exchanges. Special emphasis will be placed on encouraging the active participation of young people, women, and other groups to consolidate the popular foundation for international friendship.

Meanwhile, we will deepen cooperation on people's wellbeing projects within the BRI framework, implementing the Silk Road Community Building Initiative and Silk Road Heart-to-Heart Connection Initiative. We will carry out more “small yet impactful” cooperation projects in agriculture, poverty alleviation, ecology, and health, to enhance the sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security among people in partner countries.

Additionally, we will strengthen the Silk Road Think Tank Association and the Global South Think Tank Alliance, working to establish institutionalized and regular exchanges with party-affiliated think tanks and expand media cooperation with political parties worldwide. All this is designed to provide intellectual support and communication channels to foster mutual understanding and affinity among people of all countries.

Liu Jianchao is Head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 7, 2025)