Yearender: 2019 witnesses China throwing full weight behind multilateralism

Aerial photo taken on April 12, 2019 shows the Lotus Tower in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka. Under the Belt and Road Initiative, Sri Lanka and China signed the Lotus Tower agreement in 2012 to build the highest TV tower in South Asia, with China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (CEIEC) being the general contractor. Unilateralism and protectionism have been eroding the global governance system throughout 2019, prompting widespread concern among members of the international community. Braving such headwinds, China has been doing its utmost to defend multilateralism, via concrete actions such as paying in full all it owes for the 2019 UN regular budget, actively participating in climate action, strongly backing UN peacekeeping operations, and vigorously promoting dialogue and consultation so as to resolve global and regional hotspot issues. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)