Promoting the Contemporary Value of the Bandung Spirit

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference. Seventy years ago, the Bandung Spirit strongly promoted unity and cooperation among Asian and African countries, spurred the vigorous development of the worldwide national liberation movement, and initiated the historical process of South-South cooperation. Seventy years later today, the “Global South” is rising collectively, and the international balance of power is undergoing profound adjustments. However, unilateralism, protectionism, and hegemonic bullying have risen markedly, and deficits in peace, development, security, and governance in the world are constantly emerging. President Xi Jinping recently published a signed article titled “Let the Ship of China-Malaysia Friendship Sail Toward a Brighter Future” in Malaysia’s Sin Chew Daily, The Star, and Sinar Harian, emphasizing that China and Malaysia “should strengthen cooperation in international and regional affairs, promote the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit, jointly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law, and promote global governance toward a more just and reasonable direction.” Joining hands with developing countries to promote the Bandung Spirit, especially to demonstrate their adherence to and pursuit of independence, unity and cooperation, and seeking common ground while reserving differences, has entirely new value and significance for defending the fairness and justice of the international order and advancing the development and revitalization of the “Global South.” China made outstanding contributions to the convening of the Bandung Conference and the birth of the Bandung Spirit. Today, in advancing the common interests of the “Global South” and promoting world peace and development, China will inevitably make new and greater contributions.

今年是万隆会议召开70周年。70年前，万隆精神有力促进了亚非国家的团结与合作，推动了世界范围民族解放运动的蓬勃发展，开启了南南合作的历史进程。70年后的今天，“全球南方”正在群体性崛起，国际力量对比正在发生深刻调整，但单边主义、保护主义、霸凌主义显著上升，世界和平赤字、发展赤字、安全赤字、治理赤字不断涌现。习近平主席日前在马来西亚《星洲日报》《星报》《阳光日报》发表题为《让中马友谊之船驶向更加美好的未来》的署名文章，强调中马两国“要密切在国际和地区事务中的合作，弘扬和平共处五项原则和万隆精神，共同维护以联合国为核心的国际体系和以国际法为基础的国际秩序，推动全球治理朝着更加公正合理的方向发展”。携手发展中国家弘扬万隆精神，特别是展现他们对独立自主、团结合作、求同存异的坚守和追求，对于捍卫国际秩序的公平正义、推进“全球南方”发展振兴有着全新的价值和意义。中国曾经为万隆会议的召开及万隆精神的诞生作出杰出贡献，今天，在推进“全球南方”共同利益、推动世界和平与发展上，中国必将作出新的更大贡献。

1. Upholding International Fairness and Justice with the Spirit of Independence

1.以独立自主精神捍卫国际公平正义

In April 1955, 29 Asian and African countries and regions successfully convened the first Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia. The important task of the conference was to jointly oppose the aggression and oppression of colonialism and imperialism and to safeguard the national independence and sovereignty of Asian and African countries. The conference reached ten principles for handling relations between states, which were an extension and development of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and also consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. The Chinese delegation at the Bandung Conference expressed its will and determination to firmly support the Asian and African national liberation movement, and together with other Asian and African countries, condensed the opposition to imperialism, colonialism, and aggression into an important connotation of the Bandung Spirit. The convening of the Bandung Conference greatly inspired the struggles of oppressed peoples and nations worldwide for national independence and promoted the vigorous development of the national liberation movement in the Third World. A large number of colonial and semi-colonial countries gained independence, which is one of the most important changes in the historical process of the 20th century world. The pursuit of independence, defiance of power, and courage to resist have been important connotations of the Bandung Spirit from the very beginning.

1955年4月，29个亚非国家和地区在印度尼西亚万隆成功召开第一次亚非会议，会议的重要任务是共同反对殖民主义、帝国主义的侵略和压迫，维护亚非国家的民族独立和主权。会议达成处理国家间关系的十项原则，这是对和平共处五项原则的引申和发展，也与联合国宪章的宗旨和原则相一致。中国代表团在万隆会议上表达了坚定支持亚非民族解放运动的意志和决心，并与其他亚非国家一道把反帝反殖反侵略凝练为万隆精神的重要内涵。万隆会议的召开极大鼓舞了全世界被压迫民族和人民争取民族独立的斗争，推动了第三世界民族解放运动的蓬勃发展。一大批殖民地半殖民地国家走向独立，这是20世纪世界历史进程中最为重要的变化之一。追求独立自主，不畏强权，敢于抗争，自始便是万隆精神的重要内涵。

Today, Third World countries have long been independent, but mutual respect and complete equality among nations have not been fully realized. International politics is still filled with hegemonic thinking, zero-sum thinking, and confrontational thinking. The international community wants justice, not hegemony; it wants fairness, not power. On the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, we should vigorously promote the spirit of independence of Asian and African countries, oppose world power and external oppression, and pursue a fair and just international order. This requires adhering to the principles of mutual respect and equality, insisting that all countries, regardless of size, strength, or wealth, are equal, and insisting on mutual respect and equal treatment among countries. It requires adhering to the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, resolutely opposing “building walls and erecting barriers” and “decoupling and severing supply chains” in the world economy, firmly upholding the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, and continuously expanding the convergence of interests of all countries in the world. It requires adhering to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, resolutely safeguarding the voice of developing countries in international affairs, and advancing global governance and the reform and construction of the global governance system.

今天，第三世界国家早已独立，但各国相互尊重、完全平等并未完全实现，国际政治仍然充斥着霸权思维、零和思维、对抗思维。国际社会要公道，不要霸道；要公理，不要强权。在万隆会议召开70周年之际，我们应大力弘扬亚非国家的独立自主精神，反对世界强权和外来压迫，追求公平正义的国际秩序。这就需要恪守相互尊重和平等原则，坚持国家不分大小、强弱、贫富一律平等，坚持各国相互尊重、平等相待。坚持互利共赢原则，坚决反对在世界经济中“筑墙设垒”“脱钩断链”，坚定维护以世界贸易组织为核心的多边贸易体制，不断扩大世界各国的利益汇合点。坚持共商共建共享原则，坚决维护发展中国家在国际事务中的话语权，推进全球治理及全球治理体系改革和建设。

China is a natural member of the “Global South” and also a major world power. A major power should act like one. In the face of hegemonic, domineering, and bullying acts, China resolutely opposes them and profoundly exposes their harm, strengthens dialogue and cooperation with countries around the world, and guides international public opinion to correctly understand and respond to the uncertainties facing the world. China firmly upholds the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system and promotes the development of the international economic order in a direction of equality, fairness, cooperation, and mutual benefit. China actively promotes the deepening and expansion of multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), strengthens regional economic cooperation and connectivity, provides a model for global multilateral cooperation, and offers Chinese solutions and Chinese strength to the international community.

中国是“全球南方”的天然成员，也是一个世界大国。大国就应该有大国的样子。面对霸权霸道霸凌行径，中国坚决反对并深刻揭露其危害，与世界各国加强对话与合作，引导国际舆论正确认识和应对世界面临的不确定性。中国坚定维护多边贸易体制的权威性和有效性，促进国际经济秩序朝着平等公正、合作共赢的方向发展。中国积极推动区域全面经济伙伴关系协定（RCEP）等多边合作机制的深化和拓展，加强区域经济合作与互联互通，为全球多边合作提供示范，为国际社会提供中国方案和中国力量。

2. Promoting the Development and Revitalization of the “Global South” with the Spirit of Unity and Cooperation

2.以团结合作精神推动“全球南方”发展振兴

The convening of the Bandung Conference was a milestone for the peoples of Asia and Africa in pursuing independence, strengthening unity, and enhancing cooperation. It marked the beginning of the Third World joining hands to pursue joint self-reliance and self-strengthening, and initiated the historical process of South-South cooperation. Achieving self-reliance and self-strengthening through unity and cooperation, and achieving self-reliance through mutual assistance, is precisely the inherent spiritual essence of South-South cooperation.

万隆会议的召开是亚非两大洲人民追求独立、加强团结、增进合作的里程碑，标志着第三世界开始携手追求联合自强和自力更生，催生了南南合作的历史进程。以团结合作实现自立自强，以互帮互助实现自力更生，正是南南合作与生俱来的精神实质。

Today, the “Global South” is rising rapidly. A large number of emerging economies and developing countries, represented by the BRICS countries, have experienced sustained economic growth and significantly enhanced comprehensive national strength, becoming the main driving force and important engine of world economic growth. However, it must also be recognized that most developing countries have low starting points and weak foundations, and development issues remain very severe in some countries and regions. The 2024 “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” and “Global Report on Food Crises 2024,” jointly released by multiple UN agencies, show that approximately 35.4% of the global population cannot afford a healthy diet, with this proportion reaching as high as 64.8% in Africa. Development issues remain an urgent problem facing developing countries today, and still require the vast majority of developing countries to join hands and cooperate to address them.

今天，“全球南方”正在快速崛起，以金砖国家为代表的一大批新兴经济体和发展中国家经济持续增长、综合国力显著增强，已经成为世界经济增长的主要动力和重要引擎。但也要看到，多数发展中国家起点低、底子薄，发展问题在部分国家和地区仍然十分严峻。联合国多家机构联合发布的2024年《世界粮食安全和营养状况》和《2024全球粮食危机报告》显示，全球约有35.4%的人口无力负担健康膳食，这一比例在非洲高达64.8%。发展问题仍是当前发展中国家面临的紧迫问题，仍然需要广大发展中国家携手合作应对。

The important task of South-South cooperation today is to shape the collective identity of the “Global South” and build consensus for “Global South” cooperation with the spirit of unity and cooperation. The “Global South” is not just a geographical concept; it is essentially a collective identity. It not only carries common historical memories but also reflects common contemporary needs, thus possessing a special sense of belonging, identity, and mission. On the 70th anniversary of the birth of the Bandung Spirit, emphasizing the common identity of the “Global South” helps developing countries enhance their mutual unity, boost their confidence in development, highlight their international status, and elevate their world value. If the main agenda of South-South cooperation in the past was to achieve national independence and liberation, the main agenda today is to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in the process of pursuing modernization, jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, and jointly defend the fairness and justice of the international order.

如今南南合作的重要任务，是以团结合作精神塑造“全球南方”集体身份、汇聚“全球南方”合作共识。“全球南方”不只是一个地理概念，在本质上是一种集体身份认同，不仅承载着共同的历史记忆，也反映了共同的现实需要，因此有着特殊的归属感、认同感和使命感。在万隆精神诞生70周年的今天，强调“全球南方”共同身份，有助于发展中国家增进彼此团结，提振发展信心，彰显自身国际地位，提升自身世界价值。如果说，以前南南合作的主要议题是实现民族独立和解放，今天的主要议题则是在追求现代化的进程中加强互利合作，共同维护发展中国家的应有权益，共同捍卫国际秩序的公平正义。

The “Global South,” from jointly pursuing political independence to achieving development and revitalization through unity and cooperation and defending international fairness and justice, has always been an important driving force in world historical development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “No matter how the international situation changes, China always has the ‘Global South’ at heart, takes root in the ‘Global South,’ supports more ‘Global South’ countries in joining the BRICS cause as full members, partner countries, or in a ‘BRICS Plus’ format, gathers the mighty force of the ‘Global South,’ and jointly promotes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.” China is a major country in the “Global South,” always adhering to the correct view of righteousness and interests, balancing righteousness and interests and integrating righteousness with interests in its interactions with developing countries, and joining hands with developing countries to achieve mutual benefit, win-win cooperation, and common development. At the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September 2024, China clearly announced ten partnership actions for China and Africa to jointly advance modernization, committed to unilaterally and proactively expanding market opening, and decided to grant zero-tariff treatment on 100% tariff lines to all least developed countries having diplomatic relations with China, including 33 African countries, making China the first major developing country and major world economy to implement such a measure. In particular, China joins hands with developing countries to build the Belt and Road Initiative, with more than three-quarters of countries having joined the big family of Belt and Road cooperation. Partner countries have long extended from the Eurasian continent to regions such as Africa, Latin America, and the South Pacific, making it an important bond for China to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation with the vast number of developing countries.

“全球南方”从携手追求政治独立，到团结合作实现发展振兴、捍卫国际公平正义，一直都是世界历史发展的重要推动力量。习近平总书记强调：“无论国际形势如何变化，中国始终心系‘全球南方’、扎根‘全球南方’，支持更多‘全球南方’国家以正式成员、伙伴国、‘金砖+’等形式加入金砖事业，汇聚‘全球南方’磅礴力量，共同推动构建人类命运共同体。”中国是“全球南方”的大国，始终坚持正确义利观，在与发展中国家交往中坚持义利兼顾、弘义融利，携手发展中国家实现互利共赢、共同发展。在2024年9月中非合作论坛北京峰会上，中国明确宣布中非携手推进现代化十大伙伴行动，承诺主动单方面扩大市场开放，决定给予包括33个非洲国家在内的所有同中国建交的最不发达国家100%税目产品零关税待遇，成为实施这一举措的首个发展中大国和世界主要经济体。特别是，中国携手发展中国家共建“一带一路”，已有超过四分之三的国家加入共建“一带一路”大家庭，合作伙伴早已由亚欧大陆延伸至非洲、拉美、南太等区域，成为中国与广大发展中国家开展互利合作的重要纽带。

3. Promoting Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations with the Principle of Seeking Common Ground While Reserving Differences

3.以求同存异方针推进文明交流互鉴

The convening process of the Bandung Conference was not smooth sailing. At the moment when the conference fell into disagreement, it was precisely the Chinese delegation headed by Comrade Zhou Enlai that turned the tide, actively bridging differences with the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, impelling the conference to issue the just voice of the Asian and African peoples and generating enormous international influence. [7]7 The Bandung Conference, held in Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955, was the first large-scale meeting of Asian and African states, many newly independent. Zhou Enlai, then Premier and Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, played a key role in steering the conference toward consensus.

万隆会议的召开过程并非一帆风顺，在会议陷入分歧之时，正是以周恩来同志为团长的中国代表团力挽狂澜，以求同存异方针、和平共处原则主动弥合分歧，推动大会发出了亚非人民的正义呼声并产生了巨大国际影响。

The proposal of the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences was a major contribution of China to the norms of international relations, and also an important historical legacy of the Bandung Conference and the Bandung Spirit. Thereafter, this principle was extended to the whole of international relations, becoming a basic norm guiding the handling of relations among countries or political parties with different ideologies and different social systems. It enriched and developed the theory of international relations, providing new thinking and methods for interaction and cooperation between different countries and political parties, breaking the traditional mindset of dividing camps by ideology and social system, emphasizing the transcendence of differences through unity, the transcendence of suspicion through trust, and promoting mutual political respect, win-win economic cooperation, and mutual learning among civilizations in the international community.

求同存异方针的提出，是中国对国际关系准则的重大贡献，也是万隆会议和万隆精神的重要历史遗产。此后，这一原则推广至整个国际关系，成为指导不同意识形态、不同社会制度的国家或政党处理相互关系的基本准则。它丰富和发展了国际关系理论，为不同国家和政党之间的交往与合作提供了新的思维和方法，打破了以意识形态和社会制度来划分阵营的传统思维，强调以团结超越分歧，以信任超越猜忌，推动国际社会在政治上相互尊重、在经济上合作共赢、在文明上互学互鉴。

How should different civilizations get along? Should they be mutually hostile, closing ranks against those who differ, or should they respect each other and learn from each other? The answer to this question directly concerns world peace and development, and concerns the development and transformation of the international system. Seek common ground on major issues while reserving differences on minor ones. [8]8 "Seek common ground on major issues while reserving differences on minor ones" (求同存异) is a four-character idiom that Zhou Enlai famously used at the Bandung Conference to advocate for cooperation despite ideological and political differences. China strives to promote the common values of all humanity and actively advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. This is precisely, at the ideological and conceptual level, to shape international consensus, consolidate common will, and advance common action, helping all countries work together to advance world development and the process of global governance. At the level of values, the common values of all humanity accurately grasp the diverse characteristics of human values, and to the greatest extent transcend differences in ideology, values, social systems, and levels of development, consolidating the value consensus of different human civilizations and sublimating it into a common value guide for the progress and prosperity of human civilization. At the level of international relations and diplomatic theory, China has put forward a series of new concepts and norms of international relations with worldwide significance, such as partnership, extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and true multilateralism, aiming to blaze a new path of state-to-state relations characterized by "dialogue rather than confrontation, partnership rather than alliance." At the level of diplomatic practice, China actively promotes the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation, jointly advances global governance, and in particular, participates constructively and deeply in the resolution of a series of hot-spot and difficult issues, playing an irreplaceable major-country role in global affairs. Exerting greater Chinese influence in shaping international consensus and making greater Chinese contributions in leading the exchange and mutual learning among human civilizations—these are the inherent requirements for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

不同文明如何相处，是相互敌视、党同伐异，还是相互尊重、互学互鉴？对这一问题的回答直接关乎世界和平与发展，关乎国际体系的发展与变迁。求大同，存小异。中国着力弘扬全人类共同价值，积极推动构建人类命运共同体，就是在思想上、观念上塑造国际共识、凝聚共同意志、推进共同行动，助力各国携手推进世界发展和全球治理进程。在价值观层面，全人类共同价值准确把握人类价值的多样性特点，又在最大程度上超越意识形态、价值观、社会制度、发展水平的差异，凝聚了人类不同文明的价值共识，升华形成人类文明进步繁荣的共同价值遵循。在国际关系和外交理论层面，中国提出一系列具有世界意义的国际关系新理念、新准则，比如伙伴关系、共商共建共享、真正的多边主义，旨在走出一条“对话而不对抗、结伴而不结盟”的国与国交往新路。在外交实践层面，中国积极推动构建相互尊重、公平正义、合作共赢的新型国际关系，携手推进全球治理，特别是以建设性姿态深入参与一系列热点难点问题的解决，在全球性事务中发挥了不可替代的大国作用。在推动塑造国际共识方面发挥出更大的中国影响，在引领人类文明交流互鉴方面作出更大的中国贡献，这正是推动构建人类命运共同体的内在要求。

(Author: Luo Jianbo, Researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Professor at the Institute of International Strategy, Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC [National Academy of Governance])

（作者：罗建波，系中央党校〔国家行政学院〕习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心研究员、国际战略研究院教授）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心