Often referred to as the "plan," the document did not contain specific measures and consisted of the Chinese authorities' earlier statements about adherence to international law, which led some commentators to regard it as a symbolic gesture addressed to Western countries.
[1][2] Wang Yi, head of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, announced the publication of China's proposals for a peaceful end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 18, 2023.
[4] Commentators expected that the document would be made public during the meeting of the UN General Assembly on February 23, but this did not happen, and China itself abstained from voting on resolution ES-11/6, which demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops in Ukraine.
It became the first major international initiative of the PRC after the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in October 2022,[6] during which Xi Jinping, contrary to the country's political tradition, was re-elected General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee.
[12][23] The Ukrainian authorities reacted to China's initiative in a restrained and diplomatic manner, welcoming the very fact of the proposals, but noting the absence of conditions critical for Ukraine in the document, for example, the withdrawal of Russian troops.
In the following spring months, the head of China's delegation to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Li Hui, held a series of meetings in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Warsaw and other European capitals, as well as Moscow and Kyiv, to promote the peace plan.