Nation to help developing countries improve their ability to measure and monitor progress
This aerial photo taken on Jan 9, 2024 shows a view of Cocody Bridge in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. The bridge, with a total length of approximately 1.63 kilometers, is constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation. [Photo/Xinhua]
President Xi Jinping has called on all parties to work together to advance the Global Development Initiative and translate the vision of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into tangible improvements in people's lives, as Beijing has helped build the GDI into a platform for practical development cooperation that brings countries, UN agencies and resources together.
Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory letter read out by Vice-President Han Zheng at a China-hosted dialogue marking the initiative's fifth anniversary at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday.
Development is the eternal theme of human society and a key to people's well-being, Xi said in the letter. He proposed the initiative at the UN General Assembly in 2021 to promote international development cooperation, reinvigorate global development and help accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Over the past five years, cooperation projects under the initiative have taken root and yielded outcomes in more than 120 countries through the joint efforts of all parties, Xi said. As the largest developing country and a member of the Global South, China is ready to work with others to pursue people-centered development and make the SDGs into reality, he added.
In his address, Han said global development still faces serious challenges, and progress toward the 2030 Agenda is badly behind schedule. China is ready to work with others to practice true multilateralism and ensure that the benefits of development reach people in all countries, he said.
China is willing to provide funding to the China-UN Trust Fund Project on Statistical Capacity Building to help developing countries improve their ability to measure and monitor progress toward the SDGs, he said.
Han announced that China will launch a program to train 10,000 engineers from developing countries over the next five years in fields including transportation infrastructure and information and communications technology, helping those countries improve infrastructure and strengthen their resilience.
He proposed expanding GDI cooperation in the areas of artificial intelligence, the digital economy, new energy, and disaster prevention and mitigation to create new drivers of sustainable development.
According to China's Foreign Ministry, more than 130 countries and international organizations have expressed support for the GDI and participated in its cooperation, while nearly 100 countries and international and regional organizations have signed cooperation documents with China. The Group of Friends has 88 member countries, the ministry said.
For UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, the breadth of participation has given the GDI a foundation for closer cooperation with the UN. She said the initiative had brought countries together around practical work on sustainable development.
"We can already see useful cooperation emerging between the United Nations and the Group of Friends of the GDI," she said. UN entities have proposed 51 initiatives, with an initial group moving forward in areas such as school meals, digital trade, local development and sustainable urban mobility.
Mohammed credited China with helping to establish a platform that countries and UN agencies could build upon. "China has helped build a platform with reach, resources and political weight behind it."
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the initiative had gained importance as progress toward the 2030 Agenda remained uneven and slow. Sharif warned that financing shortfalls, climate disasters and rising food and fuel prices threatened to reverse development gains.
"Responding to these challenges calls for strengthened multilateral cooperation, as advocated by the People's Republic of China, and its Global Development Initiative is very timely," he said.
Sharif said the GDI had already produced practical results across the developing world and that its goals complemented Pakistan's economic transformation plan. "As we approach 2030, Pakistan stands ready to deepen cooperation with all partners under the GDI by replicating successful projects at scale and identifying new, innovative areas of cooperation."
Hussain Mohamed Latheef, vice-president of the Republic of Maldives, said developing countries needed greater support to advance the 2030 Agenda and address persistent challenges. For his country, China's contribution to infrastructure projects had improved connectivity, while cooperation in training and capacity building had strengthened professionals and institutions, he said. Against that background, Latheef expressed support for China's continued efforts to advance the initiative.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla described the GDI as a model of cooperation that reflected the development priorities of the Global South. He said that it had contributed to participating countries' development goals even as unilateralism and threats to peace complicated their efforts.
Reviewer 1: Huang Mengyao
Reviewer 2: Zhang Yanlan
Reviewer 3: Tang Caihong