African youth representatives appreciate porcelain products at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Museum during the Fifth China-Africa Youth Festival in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, on October 28(XINHUA)

Despite the encouraging news that vaccines may be on the way, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound and lasting impact on the international community. It has increased economic uncertainty and geopolitical frictions while highlighting the shortcomings of global governance at a time when transnational challenges are more evident than ever. Yet the unprecedented changes we are witnessing also bring opportunities for China's development and global integration.

China should seek to establish more partnerships and "multilateralize" the Belt and Road Initiative, which covers all three regions discussed as well as those further afield. Incorporating the initiative under the UN's framework of governance can be part of these efforts. The UN faces challenges of its own and the need to reinvigorate the organization has been highlighted by its struggle to mount a collective response amid the pandemic. The Belt and Road Initiative is a useful vehicle to help achieve this, being well aligned with the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. There are more than 130 countries and international organizations participating in the initiative. Coordination could be enhanced by a Belt and Road Initiative-oriented agency established under the UN structure.

Likewise, China can also seek to align the Belt and Road Initiative more closely with other international institutions. To foster greater movement of goods, capital and people linked to the initiative, rules and standards need to be streamlined. The World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the International Organization for Migration, and the International Labor Organization are among the partners that can help determine a regulatory framework for Belt and Road Initiative-related issues.

International cooperation has suffered in recent years under the weight of populism, protectionism and now the pandemic.  "We need to build trust rather than second-guess each other; we need to join hands rather than throw punches at each other; and we need to consult rather than slander each other." Hopes for COVID-19 vaccines raise the prospect of opening a new, brighter chapter for the post-pandemic world, but there is still much work to be done.

To achieve the goals set by the 14th Five-Year Plan, China needs to work more closely with partners in Asia, Europe, Africa, and beyond.