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Beyond Western Dominance: The Global Development Initiative as China’s Normative Contribution to Strengthening UN Development Governance


Yong Chi1,*, Zongxin Yue

Institute for Globalization and Global Issues, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China
Institute for Globalization and Global Issues, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China
 
Correspondence: Yong Chi, E-mail: chiyong1212@gmail.com
 
J. Int. Eco. Glo. Gov., 2025, 2(4), 4-22; https://doi.org/10.12414/jiegg.250607
Received : 08 Apr 2025 / Revised : 25 Apr 2025 / Accepted : 08 May 2025 / Published : 25 Jun 2025
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Abstract
 
China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI), introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2021, was a strategic response to global development challenges. China has been proactive in planning the rapid implementation of GDI and allocating substantial resources to transform it from an initiative into a large-scale and practical international action. China’s promotion of GDI has substantial practical implications for global development governance in the UN. Despite challenges such as geopolitical tensions and limited experience in multilateral diplomacy, the GDI represents a significant shift in China’s role in the UN, offering an alternative path to global development governance. The innovation of this article lies in its linking of the two research fields of GDI and UN development governance, highlighting the Five ways in which China promotes GDI based on the UN, including summit diplomacy, development values and ideas, development governance standards, regime building, and development cooperation projects. This framework could provide a theoretical and analytical foundation for future research on GDI.
 
Keywords: Global Development Initiative, United Nations, Global Development Governance, China
 
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Funding

    This study is supported by the Major Program of the National Fund of Philosophy and Social Science of China (21&ZD173)

Conflicts of Interest:

    The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to report regarding the present study.

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© The Author(s). Published by MOSP
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

Chi, Y.; Yue, Z. Beyond Western Dominance: The Global Development Initiative as China’s Normative Contribution to Strengthening UN Development Governance. Journal of International Economy and Global Governance 2025, 2 (4), 4-22. https://doi.org/10.12414/jiegg.250607.

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