More support pledged as GDI marks fifth year

China has called for efforts to steadily align the Global Development Initiative with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in order to create a better future for a world that remains volatile and turbulent and faces mounting development challenges, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.

Addressing the High-level Meeting on the Global Development Initiative in Beijing, Wang said the initiative has become increasingly significant as the UN 2030 Agenda faces serious delays, the North-South development gap widens and global development is confronted with grave challenges.

Wang called for pooling efforts to accelerate progress toward the UN's sustainable development goals.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the GDI, which was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2021.

To date, more than 130 countries and international organizations have expressed support for the GDI and joined its cooperation framework, and nearly 100 countries and international and regional organizations have signed GDI cooperation documents with China, according to Wang.

In five years, China has mobilized more than $23 billion to support over 1,800 "small and beautiful" livelihood projects, and has provided training to more than 200,000 professionals from developing countries, Wang said, adding that the outcomes of the initiative have delivered tangible benefits to people in more than 120 countries.

China has also launched more than 30 cooperation mechanisms and platforms, providing strong support for Global South countries to enhance their own development capability, he said.

Beijing will continue to assist other developing countries with more development resources, including financing and technology, and deepen bilateral, trilateral and multilateral cooperation to help address uneven and inadequate development, Wang said.

He added that the nation will also continue to support the UN in strengthening its development pillar and advancing its reform and reinvigoration, while calling for greater efforts to practice multilateralism and improve global governance.

He also called for efforts to champion openness and cooperation, and to eliminate the digital and artificial intelligence divides between the North and the South.

Earle Courtenay Rattray, chef de cabinet to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, noted that only 36 percent of measurable SDG targets are currently on track, stressing that "the task now is not to invent, it is to scale up and secure the resources to pay for it".

Financing, green and digital technologies and preparations for the future are critical pillars where China's leadership will count, he said.

Pakistani Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi said the GDI is not merely another international initiative, but a timely effort to put development back at the center of the global agenda in line with the UN Charter and the aspirations of the 2030 Agenda.

"The GDI has set a commendable example of South-South cooperation by fostering the exchange of knowledge, expertise, technologies and resources," Hashmi said.

Kenyan Ambassador to China Willy Bett said the GDI has brought renewed hope to developing countries by promoting cooperation over confrontation, partnership over division and shared prosperity over unnecessary competition.

Kenya stands ready to work closely with China, the UN and all development partners to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs, he said.

zhoujin@chinadaily.com.cn