Advertisement
Opinion | China-EU cooperation needed to safeguard globalisation’s future
- The Bretton Woods system has failed to keep up, so the US, EU, China and other Global South states must find a new multipolar model of peaceful coexistence
- Amid Sino-US competition, China and Europe can keep the world on a multipolar keel by cooperating in four crucial domains
Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
5
A clear message emerged from the first in-person China-EU summit in four years: building a multipolar world would require a systematic reform of global governance. China and Europe need to heal rifts and cooperate to play a pivotal and constructive role in ensuring a better future for global governance.
Advertisement
The current international system, comprising the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization, and led largely by the United States and Europe, was established after World War II to promote globalisation and has seen great success.
But the global economy, culture and society have marched on – given the decentralisation trend in world politics, this system is no longer able to meet our needs and global governance has fallen behind in practical action. The world order is in urgent need of restructuring.
The world is undergoing seismic changes unseen in a century. Geopolitical turmoil, climate change, a pandemic and the rise of anti-globalisation have ushered in a turbulent era. Globalisation, in particular, is facing unprecedented challenges.
In May this year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged the multipolarity of the world at the Global Solutions Summit. But while this multipolar world has arrived, the governance system to go with it has yet to be formed.
Advertisement
China is part of the Global South but some of its regions have reached levels of development comparable to Global North nations. China is in a position to link with the major sectors of a multipolar world and play a leading role in globalisation.
Advertisement