Need To Promote Globalisation, Reject Attempts To Sever Supply Chains: China Foreign Minister Qin Gang At G20 Meet

Qin’s visit comes at at time when India and China are engaged in a bitter military standoff at LAC even as tensions between Beijing and Washington are soaring every day. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang Thursday said that the G20 member countries need to follow “true multilateralism” and reject any attempts to either decouple or severe supply chains. Addressing the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting, Qin said the countries should avoid engaging in power politics and “bloc confrontation”. 

“We need to practise true multilateralism, uphold the UN-centred international system and the international order based on international law, and observe the basic norms of international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” Qin, who is on his maiden visit to India, said Thursday. 

He also said: “We need to follow the principles of dialogue on an equal footing and consensus-building through consultation. Global affairs should be handled by all through discussion. No one should engage in power politics or even bloc confrontation.”

Qin’s visit comes at at time when India and China are engaged in a bitter military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) even as tensions between Beijing and Washington are soaring by the day. 

"We need to promote the sound development of globalization, reject unilateralism, protectionism and attempts to decouple or sever supply chains, and ensure the stable and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains,” he said. 

Qin, who arrived in India Wednesday evening, also said: “We need to make global development more inclusive, resilient and beneficial for all. The Global Development Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping has offered a new option for stepping up the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Jaishankar and Qin are going to soon hold a bilateral meeting and discuss the LAC situation at the margins of the G20 ministerial summit.

Qin, Beijing’s former envoy to the US, became the foreign minister in December 2022, and has since made several diplomatic trips, especially to the African countries. He has also had telephonic conversations with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Malaysia, among others. This is, however, his first ever visit to India.