China’s “Torch of Peace” Slogan Becomes a Central Narrative Linking the Belt‑and‑Road Initiative, Xi’s Global Vision, and Domestic Soft‑Power Strategy

At the top of the hierarchy, President Xi Jinping has repeatedly invoked the idea in speeches that outline what he calls a “community with a shared future for mankind.” In a January 19, 2017 address, Xi framed peace as a universal expectation and a responsibility that “politicians of our generation” must shoulder. The notion dovetails with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the massive infrastructure and trade network that China has promoted as a vehicle for shared development and, implicitly, for the diffusion of a peaceful order. By positioning peace as the precondition for development—and development as the foundation of peace—Beijing seeks to cast its economic outreach as a stabilising force in regions ranging from Central Asia to East Africa.

The phrase is echoed in the work of senior officials and scholars who help translate lofty rhetoric into concrete policy. Yang Jiechi, the former foreign minister, has used the slogan when outlining China’s stance on multilateralism and the rejection of “jungle law” or zero‑sum logic. Academic editors such as Zheng Xiaoqi and Yang Danyong have overseen white papers and research reports that embed the slogan within discussions of industrial policy, talent development, and the role of state banks like the Agricultural Development Bank of China in financing poverty‑alleviation projects. While none of these individuals manage a “peace‑torch” program per se, their contributions keep the language alive in official documents, conference proceedings and university curricula.

The real “actors” in the narrative are the dozens of countries and peoples that have signed up to the BRI. In Beijing’s view, each new railway, port or digital corridor is a strand in a larger tapestry of people‑to‑people exchange—​cultural, educational, tourism and media cooperation​—​that reinforces mutual trust and reduces the risk of conflict. The phrase therefore functions as a moral seal on a set of very material deals, promising that the economic gains will be accompanied by a durable peace that can be handed down to future generations.

The slogan’s political resonance is most evident in its repeated pairing with calls for a new world order that eschews hegemonic dominance. Official statements stress “building a community with a shared future for mankind” and “rejecting the jungle law of power politics,” positioning China as a champion of an inclusive, cooperative system. This positioning is not merely rhetorical; it informs diplomatic outreach, from high‑level summits to the work of Chinese consulates abroad. In August 2025, for instance, Consul‑General Ruan Zongze published an article titled “Drawing Lessons from History to Create the Future and Passing on the Torch of Peace from Generation to Generation,” underscoring how the phrase has become a fixture in China’s soft‑power playbook.

Beyond geopolitics, the slogan is woven into domestic narratives about cultural heritage and education. Social‑media posts on Weibo attach it to commemorations of historic battles, to school ceremonies that celebrate the “strong‑nation youth” programme, and even to the ten‑year anniversary of China Nuclear Power, where the company highlighted the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Though the data on likes and shares are not publicly available, the tone of these posts is uniformly upbeat, framing the torch as a unifying symbol that links revolutionary memory, national pride and a forward‑looking vision of stability.

The timeline of the slogan’s rise mirrors China’s expanding global footprint. It first entered the public record in earnest around 2017, surfacing in speeches that linked it to the “community of shared future.” By mid‑2018 the phrase appeared in joint statements on China‑Europe cooperation, emphasizing a “new type of international relations” grounded in peace and development. In April 2022, a statement from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reiterated that collective effort could forge a “powerful synergy” to ensure the torch of peace continues to burn. Recent references in early 2025 tie the slogan to the three major global initiatives China has been promoting—​continuous development, enduring peace and a shining civilization​—​suggesting the phrase remains a central motif in Beijing’s strategic messaging.

The implications of the slogan stretch across three spheres. Politically, it signals China’s desire to reshape global governance, presenting peace as a shared responsibility that transcends national borders. Socially, it calls for education systems to instill values of harmony and cooperation, invoking a “cultural gene” that has supposedly been passed down through Chinese history. Economically, it underscores the belief that stable, peaceful environments are a prerequisite for industrial growth, allowing resources to be diverted from defense to research, infrastructure and green technology.

Critics outside China have pointed out that the lofty language can mask underlying geopolitical ambitions, noting that the BRI has sometimes been accompanied by debt concerns and strategic footholds. Yet within the Chinese narrative, the phrase remains uncontroversial, widely embraced in official discourse and public commemorations alike. Its endurance suggests that, for the Chinese leadership, the image of a peaceful torch handed from one generation to the next is as much a tool of legitimacy at home as it is a diplomatic olive branch abroad.

In short, “let the torch of peace be passed on from generation to generation” has become a concise encapsulation of Beijing’s attempt to fuse its economic expansion, cultural confidence and vision for a re‑imagined international order into a single, emotionally resonant line. Whether the torch will indeed illuminate a more stable world remains to be seen, but the phrase itself is now firmly entrenched in the lexicon of China’s 21st‑century statecraft.