Xiplomacy echoes call of the times at UN meetings

COMMON DEVELOPMENT AS GOLDEN KEY

Underneath the various challenges troubling today's world lie assorted development problems, which have only become more acute against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and its multidimensional impact.

"The issue of development should be highlighted in the global macro framework; and there should be a greater emphasis on the promotion and protection of the rights to subsistence and development," Xi said at the latest UN meetings.

China is committed to peaceful, open, cooperative and common development, he reiterated, echoing his statements five years ago that "development of all is the real development, and sustainable development is the good development."

"We aim to foster, over time, a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other," Xi said. "This will create more space for China's economic development and add impetus to global economic recovery and growth."

Commenting on the surge of anti-globalization sentiment over recent years, Xi warned that "burying one's head in the sand like an ostrich in the face of economic globalization or trying to fight it with Don Quixote's lance goes against the trend of history."

Championing common development, China has rolled out such platforms as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the China International Import Expo and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which have offered a sliver lining in the pandemic-triggered global economic recession.

For example, the BRI, after seven years of steady development, has now become the world's largest platform of international cooperation, and the China-initiated AIIB has provided 24 members with nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars to finance their infrastructure construction.

Testifying to its commitment to inclusive development, China has achieved significant progress in promoting women's development. It is recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the 10 fast-track countries in women's and children's health. At the UN meetings, Xi called for concerted efforts "to support women and help them live their lives to the full."

On the front of poverty alleviation, a top priority in Xi's mind, China is set to lift out of poverty all rural residents living below the current poverty line within the set time frame, meeting 10 years ahead of schedule the poverty eradication target set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Calling China's poverty-fighting campaign "an inspiring strategy," Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, said China has made it possible "to accelerate the reduction of poverty at the global level."