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 symposium on neighborhood diplomacy the following October, he spoke of the need to seek common ground with others and identify converging interests, stick to the sound values of justice and benefit, hold to principles it can act upon, cherish friendship and righteousness, and for China to offer assistance to developing countries within its own capacity. Since then, he has more than once talked about this diplomatic philosophy.

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

The pursuit of shared interests 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 scope of its own resources. It is sometimes necessary to work for justice at the expense of self-interest, and to fulfill this obligation despite an unfavorable calculus in financial terms.

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

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， 絕不能唯利是圖、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。