Xi prioritizes global development

President Xi Jinping has called for a "united, equal, balanced and inclusive" global development partnership, pledging that China will take pragmatic steps to support the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Xi made the remark on Friday when chairing the High-level Dialogue on Global Development in Beijing via video link.

The meeting came at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is eroding decades of gains in global development, the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda is encountering difficulties, the North-South gap keeps widening, and crises are emerging in food and energy security.

Citing his experience as a farmer in a small village on the Loess Plateau in Shaanxi province in the late 1960s and the dramatic changes experienced by the area's residents in the past decades, Xi said that only through continuous development can the people's dream for a better life and social stability be realized.

Given the volatile changes in the international situation, Xi called for joint efforts to build international consensus on promoting development, create an enabling international environment and foster new drivers for global development.

"Only when people all over the world live better lives can prosperity be sustained, security safeguarded and human rights solidly grounded."

He underlined the need to put development front and center on the international agenda and deliver on the UN 2030 Agenda, saying that no country or individual should be left behind.

Xi criticized some countries who have politicized and marginalized the development issue, built "a small yard with high fences", imposed maximum sanctions, and stoked division and confrontation, saying that emerging markets and developing countries are more resolved to seek strength through unity for peace, development and cooperation.

"Protectionist moves will boomerang; anyone attempting to form exclusive blocs will end up isolating himself; maximum sanctions serve nobody's interest, and practices of decoupling and supply disruption are neither feasible nor sustainable," Xi said.

He mentioned the Global Development Initiative he proposed last year at the UN General Assembly session, saying that China, as a developing country, will continue to support the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda, allocate more resources for global development cooperation, and work with all parties to advance cooperation in priority areas, such as poverty reduction, food production and supply, and clean energy.

"We will upgrade the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to a Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, and add $1 billion to the fund on top of the $3 billion already committed. We will also increase input to the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund. Such efforts will further support cooperation under the GDI," Xi said.

He announced that China will set up a platform for experience and knowledge sharing on international development, a global development promotion center and a global knowledge network for development, for the purpose of exchanging governance experience and promoting mutual learning.

China will host a global forum on youth development and take part in the launch of a global action plan on youth development, in a bid to pool as much strength as possible for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he added.

Leaders from 18 developing countries participated in the virtual dialogue meeting. They exchanged views on promoting international cooperation to step up the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda and reached a broad consensus.

During the meeting, the leaders expressed their appreciation and full support for the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, both proposed by China, saying that the initiatives represent the concerns and needs of developing countries, and help to build up international consensus and mobilize resources for development to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda.

They expressed hope that international cooperation would be strengthened in poverty reduction, COVID-19 response and food security. Efforts should be made to strengthen synergy between the GDI and the regional development strategy to jointly address challenges arising from poverty, inequality and development, they said.

The leaders also expressed their serious concerns about the spillover effects of unilateral sanctions, as well as the severe harm these have done to vulnerable developing countries.

The meeting also adopted a chairman's statement.