The future of the "the Belt and Road" is promising. Big shots talk about the rise of the "Global South", the "Global South", the "the Belt and Road"

Recently, the term "global south" has occasionally caught the eye and has become a bit popular in the academic community. The 10th anniversary of China's "the Belt and Road" initiative will be celebrated in October. No matter how closely two major hot topics are related, putting them together is eye-catching, thought-provoking, and memorable.

The world is experiencing a "global southern" fever

The concept of "Global South" was proposed by American writer and left-wing young political activist Carl Preston Oglsby in 1969. At that time, the Cold War was at its peak of intense strategic competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, and a large-scale anti Vietnam War movement erupted within the United States. He coined the term "global south" in an article he published in a magazine. Carl Ogilsby's theme is the Vietnam War. He wrote, "The rule of the North over the global South has highly converged, creating an intolerable social order." Of course, before the concept of "Global South" emerged, activities such as anti imperialist and anti colonial efforts for national independence and liberation, the Non Aligned Movement, and the G77 group were surging and stirring around the world. Its characteristics are seeking independence, anti control, anti interference, and seeking autonomy.

The Cold War ended and the bipolar situation collapsed. The original division of the "three worlds" is no longer appropriate, and the title of the third world is no longer appropriate. Generally, developing countries, emerging market countries, or emerging economies are commonly used to describe those with better development. The Global South is relatively neutral. It no longer draws ideological lines based on differences, camps, religion, and systems, but encompasses the entire developing country and region, collectively referred to as one entity. 197 countries in the world are widely recognized internationally, of which 193 are members of the United Nations, excluding 31 developed members, and the rest belong to the "global southern" category. There are also 181 jurisdictions currently defined by the United Nations as developing countries or regions. China is a natural member of the "global south", with significant strength and influence. On the major international multilateral stage, China has always shared a common destiny with developing countries and actively supported them. Whether in the reform of the United Nations Security Council or the issue of G20 membership as an international economic governance platform, China has been calling for an increase in the representation of developing countries in the "global South". The BRICS summit in August attracted six new members, including Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The current chairman, South Africa, announced that the goal of the BRICS group is to "advance the global southern agenda.". India is a rotating country for this year's G20 summit and has also held an online "Global Southern Voice Summit" with 125 developing countries participating.

"The Global South" is not just about talking and singing, it has also received widespread international attention. This year's G20 summit has incorporated the African Union into this mechanism. Indonesia and India have successively hosted the G20, with Brazil and South Africa hosting the G20 in the next two years. The world can be said to have entered a "global southern" moment. Prior to the G7 Hiroshima Summit, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasized that inviting some developing countries reflects the importance of the "global south". In addition, think tanks from the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, and the United States, such as the Stimson Research Center, have begun to focus on this issue for research, and the United States even laments the serious shortage of research talent in this area.

The global southern craze is not accidental

The global South fever is a holistic awakening of developing members in the world's political changes during the century long upheaval.

The "Global South" can be said to include all countries except developed countries such as the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. It no longer symbolizes a state of poverty and backwardness on the periphery, nor is it a professional group, a political or ideological group. At least currently, it is not an organization or mechanism, but a term that corresponds somewhat to "non Western". It is a non Western world that is relatively more independent, proactive, and has greater development potential, as well as more idealistic aspirations and pursuits. The global South accommodates differences in ideology, social systems, religious customs, and economic development levels, emphasizes inclusiveness and diversity, pursues national sovereignty and political independence, and emphasizes pragmatic development and inclusive livelihood. It not only pursues interdependence but also demonstrates policy autonomy and image independence, as well as a "positive non alignment" that is more fearless of external pressure and dares to clarify its attitude. It has developed from dissatisfaction with the unequal international system still dominated by the West to the reconstruction of self seeking ways out, the expansion of BRICS countries and the SCO with substantial cooperation connotation, the wide repercussions caused by the "the Belt and Road" initiative, the regional monetary arrangement of bilateral local currency settlement and de dollarization, the failure to cater to the West's condemnation of Russia in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the refusal to choose sides in the strategic competition of major powers launched by hegemonic countries, and the pursuit of their own independent development path, all of which indicate a new strategic awakening different from the past.

The significance of this strategic awakening also lies in the vivid reality of the world's multipolar development. The rise of the Global South is considered to be a sign of breaking away from the hegemonic order of the United States and accelerating the decline of American exceptionalism. The website of the Stimson Center in the United States warns that the expected order of the "global South" is continuing to develop and reflects the rise of emerging powers in the South. These countries will increase their efforts to reform existing multilateral institutions or create new ones to better exert their influence on the international stage. More broadly, they will continue to develop parallel networks of diplomatic, economic, cultural, and security partnerships and alliances, and the West will gradually lose its influence and dominant position within them. The United States and other Western countries can no longer rely on outdated post Cold War security frameworks that are not applicable to a multipolar world.

Strength and influence support the awakening of the global South. From the perspective of reality and future development prospects, the basic trend in the world today is to rise in the east and fall in the west, and rise in the south and fall in the north. In the past 40 years, the global share of GDP in emerging markets and developing countries has increased from 24% to over 40%. According to statistics from the International Monetary Fund, emerging markets and developing countries account for 12.7% of the world's GDP at market exchange rates and 58.9% at purchasing power parity, surpassing developed countries. Over the past 20 years, emerging market countries and developing countries have contributed as much as 80% to global economic growth, with China alone contributing almost 30% of the world's economic growth. For the BRICS countries, their gross domestic product (GDP) has surpassed that of the G7 at purchasing power parity, and after the addition of six new members, their leading advantage has further expanded, with a global share of 37.7%, while the G7 has less than 30%. And this change in power is not limited. It is expected that by 2030, three of the four major economies will come from "global southern" countries, followed by China, India, the United States, and Indonesia. The rise of the "Global South" is not only about economic changes, but also about the release and expression of its political influence. Some Western observers have also noticed that "more and more countries in the southern hemisphere are demonstrating their strength on the global stage," such as China facilitating reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia and Brazil attempting to push for a peace plan to end the Ukrainian crisis.

"The Belt and Road" and "Global South"

The "the Belt and Road Initiative" takes the lead in opening up a new path for the "Global South" countries to independently choose and cooperate on a large scale for mutual benefit and win-win results, and forms an important driving force for new globalization. In the autumn of 2013, China put forward the "the Belt and Road" initiative, and the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" has gone through a decade of spectacular development. It has become a popular global public product and an important international cooperation platform provided by China to the world. It has gone through the stages from the blueprint planning stage of tamping the foundation and erecting columns and beams to the comprehensive promotion stage of taking root and bearing fruit. The interconnection architecture of "six corridors, six roads, multiple countries and multiple ports" has basically taken shape. A large number of strategic and driving infrastructure cooperation projects, such as roads, railways, ports, aviation, electricity, and pipe networks, have been completed and put into operation throughout the world, which has achieved a good demonstration effect. It has been widely welcomed by the government and people of the joint construction country, and has improved The global attention to the field of infrastructure. The fruitful results of the connectivity construction of the "the Belt and Road" not only help China's own economic transformation and the construction of a new pattern of all-round opening up, but also contribute a lot to global growth, prosperity and governance, inject new momentum into the increasingly troubled economic globalization, and open a smooth path for countries to move towards common modernization.

The "the Belt and Road" is a great initiative that has been put forward since the founding of the People's Republic of China, which is globally oriented, the most ambitious and ambitious, the most substantive and concrete. It can be seen as a new chapter in South South cooperation, showcasing unprecedented achievements in connectivity. This initiative draws on the elements of the ancient Silk Road, adheres to the Silk Road spirit of peaceful cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning, mutual benefit and win-win results, and follows the principle of joint consultation, construction and sharing. It sets off a large-scale infrastructure construction and production capacity cooperation around the world. During the period of slowing globalization, the trade and investment along the "the Belt and Road" grew faster, promoting the global flow of production factors.

To become rich, first build roads. Global interconnectivity prioritizes the construction of infrastructure, including roads, pipelines, and air networks, as well as the establishment of related supporting facilities. This is also the first goal of the the Belt and Road Initiative. And its initial focus is on developing countries. That is to say, compared to developed countries, southern countries have a low level of economic development and backward infrastructure, which seriously restricts their economic development. Due to the large investment amount, long cycle, slow recovery of infrastructure projects, it is difficult to solve them alone, and there is generally a huge funding gap. Ten years ago, China took the lead in initiating the largest scale of infrastructure construction on a global scale, with the most prominent being the cooperation in infrastructure between countries in the "global south". According to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, from 2013 to 2022, the volume of trade in goods between China and the countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" doubled, from $1.04 trillion to $2.07 trillion, with an average annual growth of 8%; The cumulative two-way investment has exceeded 270 billion US dollars, driving investment to trillions of US dollars. China is the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions, and the "the Belt and Road" is widely welcomed and supported by all countries. As of August 2023, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents with 152 countries and 32 international organizations to jointly build the "the Belt and Road", covering investment, trade, finance, science and technology, humanities, society, oceans and other fields. In the past decade, great achievements have been made, leading to significant changes in the appearance of some countries, including economic development, improvement of people's livelihoods, and social changes.

In terms of history and reality, the core scope of the "the Belt and Road" is centered around Eurasia+Africa. It has the geographical attribute of natural integration and is the original region of world civilization. The development demands are high, the development awareness is strong, the development gradient is multiple, the development value chain is wide, and the development prospects are good. Through joint consultation and construction, and strengthening mutual cooperation, a "development community" can be formed and shared. Of course, the "the Belt and Road" is global oriented. It is an open circle of friends, and can be joined if you want. In the journey of promoting the high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road", the "Global South", including Asia, Africa and Latin America, should be the most promising, promising and priority direction for deepening cooperation.