China claims deep seas, polar regions and outer space as 'common heritage of mankind'

China has declared that the deep seas, polar regions and outer space are the common heritage of all humanity.

Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party and foreign minister, attended the opening ceremony of the 2026 Global Governance Forum on Friday in Xiongan, a new town on the outskirts of Beijing.

Xiongan is under intensive development, driven by massive investment championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In his keynote address, Wang said China's contributions to improving global governance had become more prominent over the past year, and that the international community's expectations for China to play a greater role had grown more urgent. He called for new frontiers to be made into spaces for international cooperation rather than arenas for zero-sum competition, guided by the principles of peace, sovereignty, universality and joint management.

"The deep seas, polar regions, outer space and other new frontiers are the common heritage of humanity and the frontier of future development," Wang said, adding that gaps and shortcomings in existing governance frameworks and rules must be urgently addressed.

He also said that as AI technology advances rapidly, a broadly agreed-upon governance framework should be established as soon as possible to ensure the technology remains under human control and serves human well-being.

Wang reaffirmed China's intent to move away from a US-centered international order and build a China-led global governance architecture. "Two sharply contrasting tendencies are emerging regarding the direction of the global governance system," he said. "One is to blindly trust power and status, pushing self-first nationalism, monopoly by a few, and double standards. The other is to practice multilateralism while upholding sovereign equality, mutual respect and the rule of international law."

Wang said various polls showed that international public opinion toward China had improved significantly over the past year, including recognition of China as a force for global stability and progress.

President Xi proposed the Global Governance Initiative at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit last September.

The initiative calls for reforming the existing Western-dominated order by championing sovereign equality and multilateralism, with the aim of expanding the representation and voice of developing countries.

The forum was organized to mark the first anniversary of the initiative's launch.