The Chinese Communist Party has been trying for more than a decade to rewrite the international order, with Beijing displacing Washington as its center. Photo courtesy of Russia’s Pivot to Asia.

China is turning its ambition to displace American leadership into an institutional strategy, building a coalition inside the UN while establishing organizations that could expand Beijing’s influence over international rules, mediation, AI, and data. Its promises of equality and cooperation raise questions about whether these institutions will serve their members or advance CCP interests.

A system that places state sovereignty above individual rights could shield authoritarian governments from international condemnation, while Chinese influence over technology standards could promote surveillance and censorship.

CCP officials have announced that China will host the first Xiong’an Global Governance Forum in Hebei Province this autumn and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has listed both events among the next steps for implementing Xi Jinping’s Global Governance Initiative (GGI), Beijing’s plan to change how the world is governed.

Xi announced the initiative on September 1, 2025, at the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Plus” meeting in Tianjin. It followed three earlier Xi frameworks: the Global Development Initiative in 2021, the Global Security Initiative in 2022, and the Global Civilization Initiative in 2023.

These initiatives continue an older CCP ambition. Two decades before the GGI, Hu Jintao called for strengthening global governance as part of building a “harmonious world.”

Wang Yi made the GGI’s target clear when he said “a few countries monopolize global governance” and that this should no longer continue. A concept paper released by the Chinese government on the day of the announcement says the initiative seeks to make existing institutions more responsive to developing countries without overturning the international order or building a framework outside it. Its five core concepts are sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, a people-centered approach, and “real results.”

The Group of Friends of Global Governance is Beijing’s vehicle for promoting the GGI inside the UN. Nearly 40 founding member states attended its launch meeting in New York on December 9, 2025, chaired by China’s UN ambassador, Fu Cong. The group has since added chapters in Geneva and Vienna. At the group’s May 2026 meeting, Wang Yi proposed nine areas for reforming global governance.

On June 17, 2026, the State Council Information Office released a white paper titled “More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China’s Principles, Proposals and Actions.” Beijing claims nearly 160 countries and international organizations have backed the GGI and more than 60 countries have joined the group. No independent membership list has been published.

The white paper calls on countries to uphold the UN-centered international system “instead of reinventing the wheel.”  However, this call is no guarantee that the CCP will not hijack the existing UN-centered system while asking other countries to support it.

Beijing has paired this diplomacy with new institutions headquartered in China. The International Organization for Mediation, jointly initiated by 19 countries, including China, began operating in Hong Kong in October 2025.

On July 16, 2026, 29 countries signed an agreement in Shanghai establishing the World AI Cooperation Organization, headquartered there. Its founding members include Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Laos, and Indonesia. Beijing has also backed a World Data Organization in the capital and offered to host the secretariat of the UN high-seas biodiversity agreement in Xiamen.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has assessed that Xi’s three earlier initiatives seek to change global governance to serve Chinese Communist Party interests. Together, the commission wrote, they form a blueprint for replacing the rules-based order led by the United States and its allies.

According to the commission, under such a system, other states would respect or emulate China’s Party-state model, while human rights and democracy would no longer be treated as universal standards. The commission also found that working through UN platforms lowers Beijing’s coordination costs, lends legitimacy to its goals, and amplifies its influence.

Beijing is advancing the GGI as Washington reduces its participation in international bodies. On January 7, 2026, Trump signed a memorandum directing U.S. withdrawal from 66 international organizations: 31 UN entities and 35 non-UN bodies.

The White House said many promote radical climate policies, global governance, and ideological programs that conflict with U.S. sovereignty. The memorandum followed earlier U.S. exits from the World Health Organization, the Paris climate agreement, and the UN Human Rights Council.

Beyond the Trump administration, analysts differ in their assessments of China’s goals. The Mercator Institute for China Studies found that Beijing uses widely accepted terms to criticize the liberal order and build a coalition of states dissatisfied with the United States or the European Union. India’s Observer Research Foundation described the initiatives as a repackaging of familiar Chinese ideas under new names.

The China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe network argued that the GGI seeks to shift the balance of power within the existing order rather than replace it. Although these analysts differ on whether Beijing seeks to replace the international order or change it from within, their assessments point to a common goal: an international system that reflects China’s vision of global governance.

President Trump’s withdrawals from international organizations that undermine American sovereignty could also help shield the country from China’s malign influence. Americans must remain vigilant against that influence at home and continue to vote against future participation in transnational or supranational organizations. Washington must also counter Beijing’s influence by strengthening cooperation with U.S. allies through bilateral agreements.

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