Article by Ambassador Zeng Fanhua “Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind Together and Write a New Chapter of China-PNG Cooperation” on this week’s Post Courier and The National. The full text is as follows：

This January, farmers of Unggai-Bena, district of Hon. Kinoka Feo, MP has harvested 15 tons of rice with low price and high quality from a 3-hectare test plots, where mechanical farming was implemented for the first time. It proved once again the huge potential of rice farming in the Highlands region and other parts of PNG.

The backstage heroes of the harvest are the experts of China Aid Juncao and Upland Rice Technical Project to PNG. More than 20 years, the Chinese experts have been rooted in the local communities, gone into the villages, provided local people with advanced technology and fine seeds free of charge, and helped them to shake off hunger and poverty and embark on the road towards prosperity. Nearly 60,000 local people have benefited from this project.

Juncao and upland rice projects are examples of China-PNG cooperation, but the outcomes of our cooperation go far beyond that. Over the years, under the strategic guidance of our leaders, our political mutual trust has strengthened, cooperation and exchanges much closer, and friendship between our peoples further deepened. China has provided substantial assistance to PNG, supported construction of a number of roads, airports, hospitals, schools, power grids and other infrastructure, which have improved local people’s livelihood and development conditions. For 38 years, China has run an annual scholarship program for PNG students to study in China. For 22 years, China has continued to send medical teams to PNG. This year, the first group of teachers and students from Butuka Academy went to China for a cultural exchange program. Countless local people have benefited from these projects.

In October 2023, Prime Minister Marape visited China successfully. Our leaders reached a series of important consensus, which has charted the strategic course for and injected strong impetus into the development of bilateral relations. Last year, China and PNG's trade in goods reached 18.16 billion Kina. China continues to be PNG's number one trading partner in Asia. Bank of China has set up a representative office in PNG. The direct passenger flight linking Guangzhou and Port Moresby has been launched. MCC signed a cooperation agreement with Kumul Mineral Holding Limited on the downstream processing of metal mining. Our two sides have accelerated the process of negotiation of FTA. Practical cooperation between China and PNG has continued to achieve amazing outcomes.

The flourishing development of China-PNG cooperation is a vivid portrayal and practical achievement of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, which was initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The destinies of all peoples, all countries, and all individuals are interconnected. We should stand together in adversity and through thick and thin, navigating towards greater harmony on this planet that we call home. We should endeavor to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity, turning people’s longing for a better life into reality. This is the essence of building a community of shared future for mankind.

In recent years, unilateralism, protectionism, and anti-globalization are on the rise. Hegemonic and bullying are posing grave harms. Humankind is at a crossroads between unity or division, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum. Against this background, building a community of shared future for mankind has answered the question raised by the time “Where is humanity headed?”. It offers China's solution to “What kind of world we need and how to build such a world?”. China calls for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. We advocate keeping the progress toward greater multipolarity generally stable and constructive. All countries, big or small, should be treated as equals. Hegemonism, power politics, bloc rivalry or line drawing on an ideological basis should be rejected. We Advocate economic globalization should being conducive to mutual benefit and win-win cooperation for all countries in the world, especially to the accelerated development of developing countries. Globalization should be conducive to maintaining the stability and smoothness of the global industrial and supply chain, and building an open world economy. These two proposals provide solid support for building a community of shared future for mankind and point out the right direction for human society leading to common development, lasting peace and security, and mutual learning between civilizations.

Since ancient times, China always advocates that one must help others to succeed while seeking his own success and win-win cooperation. In the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Third Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit Forum held in October 2023, President Xi Jinping not only announced eight major steps China will take to support joint pursuit of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, but also stated that countries taking the lead in economic development should give a hand to their partners who are yet to catch up. As the saying goes, when you give roses to others, their fragrance lingers on your hand. In other words, helping others is also helping oneself. That’s what we promised and what we have done.

In 2023, China's gross domestic product surpassed 126 trillion RMB yuan with a growth rate of 5.2 percent, one of the best performances among world’s major economies. China has contributed more than 30 percent of global economic growth for several years in succession. This year, China's economy has further rebounded and improved. From January to February 2024, China's total import and export of goods amounted to 6.6 trillion RMB yuan, up 8.7 percent year-on-year. Facts have fully proved that China continues to be the significant growth engine driving global growth, which provides strong momentum for the world economy and broader market opportunities for all countries.

While pursuing its own development, China is actively promoting cooperation with other countries. In 2023, China's non-financial outward direct investment reached 130.1 billion US dollars, making a 18.8% year-on-year increase. The value of China's newly signed overseas contractual project reached 264.5 billion US dollars with an increase of 4.5%. China has also actively promoted various kinds of foreign aid, demonstrating China’s sense of responsibility as a major country.

This year marks my fourth year as Chinese Ambassador to PNG. I am very honored to have promoted and witnessed the rapid development of bilateral relations and deepening of practical cooperation in various fields between China and PNG, and to be a participant and practitioner of building a community with a shared future for mankind. In the past few years, my colleagues and I have visited most provinces in PNG and had in-depth exchanges with friends from all walks of life. I am deeply impressed by the similarity and complementarity between China and PNG. On the one hand, we all have broad land, humble people and diverse cultures, we all work diligently for the prosperity of our countries and the well-being of our people, and we have no intention of engaging in geopolitics or bloc confrontation. On the other hand, China has advanced technology, abundant capital and a huge market, while PNG is rich in natural and labour resources. Our two countries enjoy strong complementarity and enormous potential for cooperation. I’m sure that as long as China and PNG join hands to sow the seeds of cooperation, work diligently and take good care of them, finally we will reap the fruits of development, writing a more brilliant chapter of cooperation between China and PNG, and contributing our strength to building a community with a shared future for mankind and a better world.