Speaking at the Vision China forum, Dima Al-Khatib, director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, said the Global Governance Initiative represents another "promising" strategy from China in support of the countries of the Global South.

The event, sponsored by the Bank of China, drew more than 200 participants, including diplomats from Morocco, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Qatar and Russia, along with representatives from the fields of politics, business, academia, research and media.

The discussion on global governance and cooperation continued well after the forum concluded.

Albadawe Abdalla, former head of the Chinese department at the University of Khartoum, said the world needs peace now — that only with peace can there be stability, and only with stability can there be development and effective governance of issues, whether large or small.

"Just look at how China has sent many medical teams and peacekeeping teams to Africa. I believe China has made great contributions in recent years to global governance and to peace and stability in Africa," Abdalla said.

For Zlatko Lagumdzija, a Bosnian diplomat and politician who serves as Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN, China's new initiative is showing the way ahead.

The Global Governance Initiative "gives us a clear road map and clear steps that we must take, and a call for action", Lagumdzija said.

Bilin Lin and Belinda Robinson in New York contributed to this story.