Upholding justice while pursuing shared interests

Xi Jinping stressed the importance of upholding justice and pursuing shared interests during his African visit in March 2013. At China's first seminar on the work of neighborhood diplomacy in the following October, he spoke of the need to seek common ground and find converging interests with others, stick to the sound values of justice and benefit, hold to principles it can act upon, cherish friendship and righteousness, and offer assistance to developing countries that is within the limits of its own resources. Since then, he has more than once talked about this diplomatic philosophy.

Upholding justice reflects our values. China hopes to see widely common prosperity across the world and, in particular, accelerated development in developing countries.

The pursuit of shared interest should be aligned with the need to search for mutual benefit, rather than being turned into a zero-sum game. China has the obligation to provide assistance to poor countries within the limits of its own resources. It is sometimes necessary to work for the justice at the expense of self-interest and fulfill this obligation despite an unfavorable calculus in financial terms.

A healthy approach to the relationship between upholding justice and pursuing shared interest is a principled approach that values friendship, adheres to moral standards, refuses to succumb to the temptations of greed, encourages us to seek gain only when the justice is not adversely affected, and embraces a readiness to sacrifice self-interest for the justice when need arises. This approach is grounded in traditional Chinese culture and our foreign policy thinking, and embodies the values we cherish. It has won praise from the international community in general and from developing counties in particular. It is a manifestation of China's soft power.

樹立正確義利觀

2013年3月，習近平訪非期間，首次提出正確義利觀。當年10月，中華人民共和國成立以來的首次周邊外交工作座談會舉行。習近平強調，要找到利益的共同點和交匯點，堅持正確義利觀，有原則、講情誼、講道義，多向發展中國家提供力所能及的幫助。此后他又多次強調這一理念。義，反映的是我們的一個理念。中國希望全世界共同發展，特別是希望廣大發展中國家加快發展。利，就是要恪守互利共贏原則，不搞我贏你輸，要實現雙贏。中國有義務對貧窮的國家給予力所能及的幫助，有時甚至要重義輕利、舍利取義，絕不能惟利是圖、斤斤計較。樹立和貫徹正確義利觀，就是有原則、講情義、講道義，見利思義、義利兼得，甚至必要時舍利取義；正確義利觀體現了中華民族傳統美德和中國外交優良品格，進一步豐富了中國外交的價值觀，得到國際社會特別是廣大發展中國家的普遍贊譽，成為中國軟實力的獨特標志。