死亡笔记

Why China's favorability is rising across the Global South_我的网站

A | 　　讯 8月11日，四川省人民政府新闻办公室举行“万千气象看四川·起步奋进‘十五五’”乐山专场新闻发布会，主题为“增强乐山区域中心城市综合承载能力”。　　会上，乐山市经济和信息化局局长魏阳东介绍，乐山工业门类齐全、资源富集、交通畅达，是全市经济发展的“顶梁柱”。

A local train driver receivs a notebook from his Chinese predecessor at the Adama station in Adama City, Ethiopia, Sept. 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)The global perception landscape is changing. For decades, the United States occupied a dominant position in international public opinion. The latest Pew Research Center survey, however, points to a notable turning point: for the first time in more than two decades, China is viewed more favorably than the United States across a larger number of countries.
What explains China's growing appeal?
For many developing countries, China offers a practical development partnership centered on infrastructure, investment, industrialization, technology transfer and trade. Rather than prescribing a single pathway to modernization, it has generally emphasized allowing countries to pursue development in line with their national priorities.
One reason China's influence has grown is that its development model is highly visible. From Ethiopia's railways to Pakistan's power plants, Chinese-financed projects address everyday development challenges by improving transport, energy security and connectivity. Through the Belt and Road Initiative, China has mobilized nearly 1 trillion U.S. dollars in infrastructure investment, producing projects that citizens can see, use and associate with economic progress.
The distinction lies not only in the scale of investment but also in the evolving priorities of development cooperation. While many Western partners have increasingly emphasized economic security, strategic de-risking, private-sector mobilization and governance reform, China has combined large-scale investment in physical infrastructure with technology transfer, industrial cooperation and human capital development.
At the same time, China has actively promoted trade by expanding market access, including granting zero-tariff treatment to many least-developed countries, deepening currency-swap arrangements, and encouraging the use of local currencies in cross-border trade. Together, these measures seek to strengthen economic connectivity, reduce transaction costs and exchange-rate risks, and create new opportunities for developing countries to integrate into regional and global value chains.
A container truck, transporting the first batch of imports under China's expanded zero-tariff treatment to 53 African nations, enters Shenzhenwan Port in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 1, 2026. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

A container truck, transporting the first batch of imports under China's expanded zero-tariff treatment to 53 African nations, enters Shenzhenwan Port in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 1, 2026. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)
This integrated approach has produced tangible improvements in productivity, connectivity and local capacity, reinforcing perceptions of China as a long-term development partner.
Equally important is the philosophy underpinning China's engagement. Beijing consistently emphasizes sovereignty, mutual respect and non-interference, maintaining that every country should determine its own political and development path. For many governments across the Global South, this approach is a partnership based on equality rather than political conditionality, allowing them greater policy space to pursue domestic development priorities.
Diplomatic style has also influenced perceptions. Through mechanisms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and regular engagement with Pacific Island countries, China has committed itself to equality and shared development. For many governments in the Global South, that sense of respect and recognition is not merely symbolic -- it contributes to long-term political trust.
Perhaps the most important nuance is this: the Global South is not becoming anti-American; it is becoming strategically pragmatic. Its foreign policy decisions are increasingly guided by national interests, economic opportunity, and development priorities rather than Cold War-style geopolitical alignment.
The Global South's primary ambition is neither ideological nor geopolitical -- it is developmental. Governments want to create jobs, eliminate poverty, modernize infrastructure, strengthen industrial capacity and improve the quality of life for their citizens. China's transformation over the past four decades, from lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty to becoming a global leader in infrastructure, manufacturing and technology, has demonstrated what sustained long-term planning can achieve. Consequently, many developing countries are looking to China not as a model to replicate wholesale, but as a development partner from which they can learn, cooperate and pursue shared prosperity while preserving their own policy autonomy.
This contrast is also reflected in broader policy priorities. At a time when many Western governments are increasingly emphasizing tariffs, export controls, technology restrictions, sanctions and economic security, China has continued to promote infrastructure investment, trade, industrial cooperation, technology partnerships, open-source AI initiatives and greater access to its domestic market. Whether one agrees with either approach or not, many developing countries evaluate partnerships primarily through the lens of economic development and tangible outcomes. That difference in emphasis is helping reshape global perceptions.
A staff member arranges exhibits at the booth of Nigeria during the 9th China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 25, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Fei)

A staff member arranges exhibits at the booth of Nigeria during the 9th China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 25, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Fei)
The world is changing, and the transition toward a more multipolar international order is becoming increasingly evident. The Global South is no longer a passive participant in world affairs. Its countries are exercising greater strategic autonomy, making decisions according to their own national interests, development priorities and the aspirations of their people. In China, developing countries have found a true friend and good partner.
Editor's note: Maya Majueran serves as the director of the Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka, an independent and pioneering organization with strong expertise in Belt and Road Initiative advice and support.
。未来五年，将坚定落实“工业强市”发展战略，围绕“1234”工作思路，练内功、强筋骨、固底盘，持续增强工业发展韧性。　　“1”是锚定一个目标。深入实施重点产业“建圈强链”，发展壮大“225”先进制造业集群，构建光伏储能、绿色化工2个千亿级产业集群，培育绿色建材、食品轻纺2个500亿级产业集群，壮大核技术应用、稀土新材料、装备制造、电子信息、航空航天5个100亿级产业集群，前瞻布局氢能、生物制造、具身智能等未来产业，构建“底盘坚实、动能充沛、新质引领”的产业格局。　　“2”是做强两大支柱。乐山是全国第一块多晶硅、第一号发明专利（侯氏碱法）的诞生地，拥有独有的晶硅光伏先发优势和绿色化工深厚底蕴。“十五五”期间，将升级壮大光伏储能、绿色化工两大支柱产业，撑起工业“基本盘”、当好发展“主力军”。聚焦技术创新和关键材料，推动光伏与储能产业迭代升级、一体化发展；聚焦绿色化学品、化工新材料、电子化学品三大核心赛道，着力延链强链和中试转化，推动绿色化工向精细化、高端化跃升，建设以硅基、磷基为引领的全球先进材料创新高地。　　“3”是推动三化转型。推动制造业智能化、绿色化、融合化转型发展，以数字化赋能产业升级、以绿色化夯实发展底色、以融合化丰富产业业态，推动传统产业“老树发新芽”、新兴产业“新枝结硕果”、未来产业“育苗开新局”。到2030年，打造5个以上国省级先进制造业集群，培育50家以上国省级绿色工厂与绿色园区，滚动实施一批技术改造升级项目，打造一批灯塔工厂、5G工厂和智能工厂。

B | 　　“4”是实施四大攻坚。一是实施“园区载体提升”行动，推进园区特色化、专业化建设，完善省级经开区县域布局，拓展化工园区承载空间。加快“六张网”建设，增强生产性和生活性服务配套，让企业“拎包入园”、项目高效落地、产业迅速成长。二是实施“市场主体倍增”行动，推进“51050”企业梯次培育工程，育成100亿级企业5户，50亿级企业10户，10亿级企业50户，规上工业企业总量突破1500户。三是实施“科技创新赋能”行动，围绕产业链搭建创新平台、攻坚关键技术，完善产学研成果转化机制，集聚科创人才，创建一批国省级产业创新中心、企业技术中心。四是实施“项目招引攻坚”行动，落实“六个一批”晾晒机制，细化招商图谱，依托资源转化、产业协同、平台搭桥、基金参股、商业合作、场景打造等路径，靶向引育优质项目，年均工业投资超350亿元。版权申明：凡注有“”或电头为“”的稿件，均为独家版权所有，未经许可不得转载或镜像；授权转载必须注明来源为“”，并保留“”的电头。。