China’s newly proposed Global Governance Initiative (GGI) has been hailed as a timely response to global instability and as a means to amplify the voice of the Global South.
Speaking during a symposium in Nairobi, Chinese Embassy in Kenya Charge d’Affaires Zhang Zhizhong and prominent Kenyan scholars highlighted the initiative’s potential to reshape international relations based on fairness, cooperation, and shared prosperity.
“Instability, uncertainty and unpredictability have become the new normal,” Mr. Zhang stated in his keynote address.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to explain today’s world and solve the conundrums with the traditional theories of international relations. Against this backdrop, President Xi Jinping proposed to build the community with a shared future for humanity,” he explained.
Mr. Zhang noted that the GGI complements three other global frameworks championed by China: the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, each reinforcing the others to inject “stability and certainty into the turbulent world.”
Mr. Zhang pointed out that the GGI is not intended to dismantle the international order but to rectify “unjust and improper arrangements in the current global governance system,” a position he argued aligns with the “fundamental interests of Global South countries, including Kenya.”
“China is ready to work with Kenya as well as other Global South countries to carry out exemplary cooperation on promoting the GGI,” the envoy added.
Kenyan economist and Director of the Inter Region Economic Network, James Shikwati, described the GGI and its sister initiatives as opportunities for Africa to diversify away from existing global structures.
“China is opening our eyes to a possible post-500-year Western hegemonic international order, offering the continent alternatives for development, using security as an organizing principle, culture as the glue and governance reform as the operating system,” he remarked.
Shikwati cited Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and national road networks as outcomes of the Global Development Initiative’s project-led approach. He further noted that China’s recent move to extend 100% zero-tariff access to African countries highlights Beijing’s commitment to trade justice for the continent.
“For Kenya and Africa, this is an opportunity to diversify trade, de-risk critical corridors, and embrace inclusive governance reforms that finally give the Global South a voice in finance, technology, and climate regimes,” Shikwati stated.
Professor Patrick Maluki, Chairperson of the Department of Diplomacy and International Studies at the University of Nairobi, asserted that the initiative comes at a crucial moment when “global governance must be built on fairness, equality, cooperation, and mutual respect.”
“The Global Governance Initiative emphasizes dialogue over confrontation, partnership over zero-sum competition, and shared responsibility over unilateral dominance,” he said.
Dr. Mutinda Mutisya, Director of the Africa Center for the Study of China, connected the GGI to the historical solidarity between China and Africa in resisting colonialism and aggression.
“The story of China and Africa is one of courage, resilience, and shared destiny. It compels us to act, to collaborate, and to remain steadfast in the pursuit of justice and dignity,” he noted.
“Solidarity is more than rhetoric, it is an actionable commitment that requires courage, vision, and sustained effort,” Dr. Mutisya stated.
Speakers concurred that the initiative’s timing is critical. As the world grapples with climate instability, geopolitical rivalry, financial inequities, and technological disruption, they argued that China’s proposals provide the Global South with a structured means to actively shape solutions rather than being passive recipients of decisions made elsewhere.
“For Kenya and Africa, this is a great proposal for reform of the finance, debt architecture, trade standards, digital/Artificial Intelligence governance and climate regimes to incorporate the Global South voices,” Shikwati noted.
The symposium concluded with calls for deeper China-Kenya and China-Africa cooperation to advance the GGI and its associated frameworks.
