BEIJING: At a high-end forum on Sunday, world leaders and senior officials of international organizations hailed President Xi Jinping’s recently proposed Global Development Initiative as well as China’s remarkable contribution to the world’s sustained growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Xi proposed the initiative while addressing the general debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday via video link.
He called on the international community to accelerate implementation of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for more robust, greener and balanced global development, and fostering a global community of development with a shared future.
The initiative embraces a people-centered concept, follows practical cooperation and advocates the spirit of open and inclusive partnership, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a video speech to the Sustainable Development Forum 2021 in Beijing on Sunday.
“This major initiative has set out a blueprint for the development of countries and international development cooperation, and pointed the way forward for global development and international development cooperation,” he said. Wang announced at the forum that China has provided more than 1.25 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the world in honoring its solemn pledge to make Chinese vaccines a global public good.
As the largest developing country, China has always been helping other developing nations and providing development assistance to more than 160 developing countries, he noted.
To advance international development, Wang called on countries to deepen cooperation in fighting COVID-19 to jointly prevail over the challenge, strengthen macro-policy coordination to promote economic recovery and pursue green and low-carbon development.
He also stressed the need to uphold fairness and justice, create an enabling environment for development, safeguard true multilateralism and deepen the global development partnership.
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, expressed her “appreciation” for Xi’s statement at the UN General Assembly general debate on Tuesday.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
