China's national security provides certainty in an uncertain world

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The Information Office of China's State Council released a white paper titled "China's National Security in the New Era" on Monday, aiming to explain the innovative concepts, practices and achievements in the country's national security efforts.

In a changing and turbulent world, certainty has become a scarce resource. While security is a prerequisite to development, the international community is, however, witnessing rising geopolitical tensions that have killed millions of civilians, unbridled unilateralist and protectionist headwinds that are reversing the trend toward economic globalization, and a slew of non-traditional security threats that have put the global security and prosperity at risk.

With the global security deficit increasing, China has been following a path of peaceful development while endeavoring to promote peaceful coexistence of civilizations, providing certainty to this uncertain world.

According to the white paper, China's holistic approach to national security is the first major strategic thinking established as the guiding principle for national security efforts since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In the new era, China takes its people's security as its ultimate goal, political security as the fundamental task, and national security as the guiding principle.

To this end, the country has made solid efforts over the years in improving security among its people and consolidating the social basis for national security.

Under the Peaceful China Initiative, China has built an iron wall for crime prevention. China is one of the countries in the world with the lowest homicide rate, the fewest gun and explosive-related cases and the lowest rate of overall crimes, according to the white paper. Official data shows that the country's homicide rate was 0.44 per 100,000 people in 2024, down from 0.46 in 2023.

In the meantime, China has been enhancing the level of its emergency management capability. Last year, there were a total of 21,800 production safety accidents nationwide, with 389 major accidents, down 11 percent and 10.8 percent year-on-year respectively.

People's health is another dimension in evaluating China's efforts in security. As a result of the country's commitment to improving the public health system, enhancing drug safety and regulating food operations, the average life expectancy in China reached 79 years in 2024.

As security and development are intricately intertwined, how to manage the relationship between the two is a task for countries across the world. For China, the failure to develop is the greatest insecurity. The country values coordinating development with security, striving to achieve a positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level security, promoting mutual reinforcement and coordinated enhancement between opening up and security, according to the white paper.

As a result of its commitment to development, China has successfully overcome a slew of security risks including the Asian and the international financial crises. As the world's second-largest economy, the largest trader in goods and a major trading partner with more than 150 countries and regions, China's contribution to global economic growth has remained at around 30 percent for several years.

And China's door will open wider. In December last year, China offered zero tariffs on 100 percent of products imported from all least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with it. It also extended its unilateral visa-free policy to 38 countries, accommodating more entry purposes and extending the stay to 30 days.

In the era of global integration, China ensures both its own security and common security. As the white paper noted, China's Global Security Initiative (GSI) highlights the security vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity, and brings a global outlook to the holistic approach to national security.

The GSI echoes the international community's desire for multi-win cooperation and aligns with the common pursuit of building a secure world. By the end of 2024, the GSI had won support and applause from 119 countries and international organizations and had been incorporated into 123 bilateral and multilateral political documents.

Against the backdrop of global challenges, China is injecting certainty and stability into the world of change and disorder, measures that are urgently needed in the new era.

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