Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made an instruction on promoting the high-quality development of philosophy and social sciences. He called for speeding up the building of a Chinese intellectual system in philosophy and social sciences, better responding to the questions posed by China, by the world, by the people and by the times, striving for new progress in the high-quality development of philosophy and social sciences.

As a discipline situated at the forefront of the profound adjustment in China's relations with the world, international relations directly confront major issues such as China's development path, the reform of the international order, the transformation of global governance and exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations. Therefore, it is all the more necessary to take China's practice as the foundation and accelerate the building of an independent Chinese knowledge system of international relations.

The key to building an independent Chinese knowledge system of international relations lies in using Chinese theories to address major real-world issues arising from the evolving relationship between China and the world. China's development process, diplomatic practice and international influence have become significant realities that the study of international relations must directly address. China has not repeated the old path of traditional major powers toward modernization through war, colonialism and plunder. It has pursued its own development while safeguarding world peace and development, and better upheld world peace and development through its own development. China adheres to an independent foreign policy of peace, advocates the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and takes the important vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity as guidance. These practices have already gone beyond the explanatory scope of Western traditional analytical frameworks centered on power politics, zero-sum games and bloc confrontation, making it increasingly urgent for China's international relations discipline to carry out systematic conceptual refinement and theoretical interpretation.

The subjectivity of China's independent knowledge system of international relations is first reflected in upholding the guiding position of Marxism. International relations research in contemporary China must integrate the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete realities of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, and incorporate the historical experience and practical innovations of China's diplomacy into systematic study. 

The subjectivity of China's independent knowledge system of international relations is also reflected in adhering to the "two integrations," namely integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and fine traditional culture. Chinese civilization has long emphasized ideals such as pursuing the common good, promoting harmony among nations, fostering amity and good-neighborliness, and seeking harmony without uniformity. The vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity inherits the internationalist spirit, concept of community and world history theory of Marxism, while revitalizing the tianxia vision and the wisdom of harmony embedded in China's fine traditional culture. Enriched through the diplomatic practice of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics for a new era, it vividly embodies the subjectivity and originality of China's theoretical innovation in international relations.

The contribution of China's independent knowledge system of international relations to global governance is reflected in its provision of a more inclusive and constructive vision of international order. The concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity advocates the building of a world characterized by lasting peace, universal security, shared prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, and ecological sustainability. In this way, it offers Chinese wisdom for addressing the challenges of global governance. 

China's independent knowledge system can also provide intellectual support for enhancing the Global South's awareness of international order. As the Global South rises collectively, developing countries are demanding greater representation and a stronger voice in international affairs, as well as fairer and more reasonable international rules and more diverse and open paths to modernization. China upholds true multilateralism, supports expanding the representation and voice of developing countries in global affairs, and promotes an inclusive and universally beneficial economic globalization. China's independent knowledge system of international relations should incorporate the historical experiences, development aspirations and governance wisdom of the Global South into its theoretical framework, thereby helping international relations studies break beyond a single-civilization-centered perspective and a single model of modernization.

A mature academic discipline must be capable of answering the fundamental questions posed by its era. Building an independent Chinese knowledge system of international relations concerns the establishment of China's academic subjectivity, the theoretical support for major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and the provision of intellectual resources for the transformation of global governance. China's international relations community should more consciously uphold the guiding position of Marxism, adhere to the "two integrations," and take China, the times, and the world as its points of reference. It should accelerate the formation of a knowledge system for international relations that embodies Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese contributions, thereby providing stronger theoretical support for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.