Wang Yi urges development cooperation

China is committed to deepening global development partnership and opening up new prospects in international development cooperation to build a community with a shared future for mankind, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday at the 2021 United Nations high-level political forum on sustainable development.

"China follows a new development philosophy featuring innovative, coordinated, green and open development for all. It is highly consistent with the 2030 Agenda's five critical dimensions of people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. It is an effort to contribute China's wisdom and a Chinese solution to the cause of global development," Wang said.

Wang made the remarks at the international forum hosted by the UN Economic and Social Council during which he discussed China's efforts and achievements in implementing the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

First, China always makes development its first priority, Wang pointed out. China has become the only country that has moved from the "low human development category" to the "high human development category", he said. The nation's economic output also has exceeded 100 trillion yuan, he said.

Second, China adopts a people-centered philosophy, he said. For the first time in history, China eliminated absolute poverty, accounting for more than 70 percent of global poverty-reduction, Wang said, adding that "not a single person of the 98.99 million impoverished population was left behind".

Third, China always put into practice its belief in the harmony between man and nature, Wang said. China has coordinated the management of mountains, rivers and forests as well as farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts and contributed to one-fourth of the increase in global afforestation and one-fifth of the net restored land.

Fourth, China embraces the trend of openness and win-win cooperation. "Ocean is vast because it refuses no river. Riding the tide in the ocean of world economy, China has made the biggest contribution to global growth for 15 consecutive years," Wang said.

China's total import and export of goods exceeded 32 trillion yuan in 2020, and its outward investment surpassed $130 billion, according to the foreign minister. In addition, China and its 140-plus partner countries under the Belt and Road Initiative have grown their trade to more than $9.2 trillion and established the largest cooperation platform in the world.

Fifth, China pursues common development with all countries. It is committed to deepening South-South cooperation and has provided development aid to more than 160 developing countries.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has carried out "the largest global humanitarian operation since the founding of New China", providing more than 290 billion masks, 3.5 billion protective suits and 4.5 billion testing kits to the world.

The country also has provided over 500 million doses of vaccines to more than 100 countries and international organizations and has made an important contribution to global vaccination.

Wang noted that countries around the world are severely impacted by the pandemic, and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda has come under great strain.

"At this critical juncture, we must join hands, act with a stronger sense of responsibility and take more concrete steps to inject fresh momentum into the global development process," he stressed.

Wang made several proposals to tackle the challenges to the cause of international development.

First, the international community needs to "prioritize development, and be the practitioner of the Sustainable Development Goals", he said.

Amid the unprecedented pandemic, countries need to put people front and center and take development as the fundamental way to respond to the pandemic and humanitarian crises, Wang said. The UN's coordinating role should be given full play, and development should be placed high on the global macro-policy agenda.

Second, countries need to "respect each other's development paths, and be the defender of a fair and just international order", Wang said.

"No development path or system is superior to others. The key is whether such a path and system fit a country's national conditions, and whether they can advance people's well-being," he said.

He emphasized that nations should practice true multilateralism, safeguard the UN-centered international system and seek common prosperity through equal-footed and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Third, the international community needs to "foster a development environment of inclusiveness and coordination and be the builder of an open world economy", Wang said.

"All peoples are entitled to pursue a happy life. A beggar-thy-neighbor approach or a me-first mentality would only tie one down in senseless attrition and lead to no progress at all," he said.

Nations need to safeguard the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as its cornerstone and keep global industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded, Wang said. He noted that China is ready to forge a powerful synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Fourth, nations need to "highlight innovation-driven growth and be a pioneer in high-quality development," Wang said, and find new growth-drivers as "the tide of the new industrial revolution surges forward".

Fifth, countries need to "jointly tackle global challenges, and be a contributor to a bright future for humanity".

The international community needs to further deepen cooperation on pandemic response, increase vaccine accessibility and affordability, and oppose vaccine nationalism, he said. At the same time, countries need to respect nature, uphold the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and fully implement the Paris Agreement on the climate.

"Long and difficult as the journey may be, we will reach the destination if we keep pressing ahead," Wang said.