Development is the eternal theme of human society. Shared development is an important path to building a better world.
Since the proposal of the Global Development Initiative, the conceptual connotation has been continuously enriched, the implementation mechanism has been continuously improved, the promotion path has become clearer, practical cooperation has gradually been implemented, the international community has focused on development issues, cultivated high-quality development momentum for the future, and provided Chinese solutions for countries in the global South to bridge the development gap and jointly build a better world.
Focusing on development and sounding the strong voice of the times
Vanuatu has become a true beneficiary of this great initiative, “Vanuatu Prime Minister Salvi said at the opening ceremony of the second high-level meeting of the Global Forum for Shared Development in July this year. He believes that Vanuatu’s official joining of the “Friends of the Global Development Initiative Group” at the beginning of this year can be regarded as “another milestone in the history of cooperation between Vanuatu and China”.
During this conference, the China Africa (Ethiopia) – United Nations (Industrial Development Organization) Cooperation Demonstration Center was officially established, which is a flagship project of trilateral cooperation jointly implemented by China, Africa, and United Nations agencies. The Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Mueller, said that the demonstration center focuses on three key areas: industrialization, agricultural modernization, and talent cultivation. It is of great significance for sharing China’s development experience, promoting China’s advanced technology, and attracting multi-party resource investment.
Adhere to the priority of development, build a more equal and balanced global development partnership, align global development initiatives with the needs of the times, provide important conceptual guidance, and effectively consolidate international development consensus.
On August 10, 2024, Fikirt Gabre worked on bamboo products at a bamboo and rattan studio called “Green Gold” in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Michael Twelde)
In the “Six Adherences” principle of the global development initiative, “development priority” is listed as the top priority. It is precisely because of persistent and clear advocacy for development that global development initiatives have deeply penetrated people’s hearts and received widespread recognition and positive response from the international community. More than 80 countries have joined the “Global Development Initiative Friends Group” initiated by China at the United Nations; More than 70 countries, regions, and international organizations have jointly established a global network of development promotion centers; China has signed cooperation agreements with multiple partners to support the implementation of a large number of development projects.
Bai Yating, the representative of the United Nations Development Programme in China, said that the Global Development Initiative is driven by the need for global collaboration and based on the two-way exchange of international experience and best practices, and is an important tool for promoting the achievement of sustainable development goals.
China is both the initiator of global development initiatives and the doer of their implementation. Adhering to an action oriented approach, China has responded to the specific development needs of different countries and regions with practical actions based on the development experience accumulated in its own modernization process, and the implementation roadmap of global development initiatives has become increasingly clear.
On July 11, 2022, in Kathmandu, Nepal, students dined after the launch ceremony of the Smiling Children’s Project. The launch ceremony of the Smiling Children project supported by the Global Development and South South Cooperation Fund was held on the same day at a high school in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, benefiting 3600 Nepalese students. Photo by Yi Aijun, Xinhua News Agency reporter
Under the framework of the initiative, China has upgraded the Global Development and South South Cooperation Fund and increased its capital to 4 billion US dollars. The total number of global development projects established has exceeded 1000, and more than 500 projects have been completed or are currently being implemented. ‘Leaving no country or individual behind’ is the goal of the United Nations development agenda and the value pursuit of global development initiatives. Distributing emergency supplies to displaced families in Mozambique, assisting Mongolia in shantytown renovation, providing food aid for Nepalese children, and helping Egyptian residents drill deep water wells… From Asia to Africa, from Pacific island countries to Caribbean coasts, global development initiatives are benefiting more and more people.
Abu Bakr Dib, consultant of the Egyptian Arab Studies Center, said that the Global Development Initiative helps promote cooperation among countries to build a more just and balanced development pattern, protect more people from hunger, poverty, war and other impacts, and is particularly significant in the current world situation.
Shakir Lamai, advisor to the Global Development Initiative Group of the Pakistan Parliament’s Sustainable Development Goals Secretariat, said that for the vast number of developing countries, “the Global Development Initiative is becoming a new path of hope.
Cultivate high-quality development momentum for the future
In Cuba, three solar photovoltaic power plants with an installed capacity of 4 megawatts each built with Chinese assistance shine brightly under the sunshine of the Caribbean Sea, benefiting tens of thousands of families. This project is of great significance to the national economy and people of Cuba, “said Rivas, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of Cuba.
Unexpectedly, a chance encounter changed our lives and fulfilled our dreams, “said Seruwaya Kabubu, President of the Fiji Mushroom Growers Association. With the help of the skills learned in the Chinese assisted Fiji mushroom grass technology training course, she led local women to plant mushroom grass and took the first step towards poverty alleviation and wealth creation.
On August 13, 2024, at the China Aid to Rwanda Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Huye District, Southern Province of Rwanda, mushroom and grass expert Chen Xiaobin (second from the right) worked with local farmers to produce strain culture materials. Photo by Han Xu, Xinhua News Agency reporter
Through the Luban Workshop, we teach technology to young people in Tajikistan, help Ethiopian women start businesses and make a living through “bamboo instead of plastic”, and offer cross-border e-commerce training courses for Arab countries… The Global Development Initiative creates education and employment opportunities through practical cooperation projects that are “small yet beautiful and beneficial to people’s livelihoods”, achieving the dreams of countless people; To build a global open platform, focusing on eight key areas including poverty reduction, food security, epidemic prevention and vaccination, development financing, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy, and connectivity. We will continuously improve cooperation mechanisms, mobilize development resources, connect development strategies of various countries and regions, and provide important support for the economic development of many countries.
On July 3, 2024, in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, Luban Workshop presented admission notices to international students studying in China. Photo by Cao Yang, Xinhua News Agency reporter
Focusing on helping the world’s poor and vulnerable groups, the Global Development Initiative actively takes action, from providing food aid and nutritious meals for women and children to dispatching agricultural expert teams and promoting the implementation of mushroom and grass technology in more than 100 countries. It not only teaches people how to fish, but also how to fish, continuously enhancing people’s sense of happiness, achievement, and security.
On February 28, 2024, students from countries such as Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Cook Islands, Samoa, and Nauru took a group photo at the Balaagaru Fungi Grass Technology Demonstration Base in Fiji for the “Pacific Island Fungi Grass Technology Training Course”. Xinhua News Agency (Image provided by China Aid Fiji Mushroom Grass Technology Demonstration Center)
Tong Meng David, a researcher at the Institute of International Issues and Public Policy at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, believes that the Global Development Initiative supports countries in addressing key issues such as poverty reduction, food and energy security, and healthcare. It encourages developing countries to engage in more cooperation in technology, agriculture, and education progress, injecting new momentum into common progress, sustainable and inclusive development, and shared prosperity.
Under the framework of global development initiatives, there are increasingly more infrastructure cooperation projects that balance economic development and environmental protection requirements, adhering to the concept of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, bringing qualitative changes to local production and lifestyle, and promoting stronger, greener, and healthier global development.
During an interview with Xinhua News Agency, De Witt, Chairman of the Belgian China Economic and Trade Commission, stated that the content of global development initiatives continues to enrich and the achievements are evident, playing an increasingly important role in fields such as green energy and digital economy.
On July 17, 2024, at the Sanya Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, second level researcher Chen Qing (right) guided Nigerian student Gregory to conduct a green pest control research experiment on cassava. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Liyun
Last winter, Egypt’s second satellite was successfully launched into space by a Long March 2C carrier rocket from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Hassem Medhat Akaya, the project management manager of the Egyptian Space Agency, excitedly stated that the successful launch of the satellite is not only a milestone in the field of China Egypt space cooperation, but also will serve Egypt’s “2030 Vision” in multiple important areas such as agriculture, mineral exploration, and urban planning.
Collaborate with the United Nations Office for South South Cooperation and other organizations to launch a series of cooperation projects for youth cross-border e-commerce poverty alleviation and sustainable development capacity building in developing countries; Carry out the “Heart Seed Program” to train cardiovascular specialists; Establish a Global Development Promotion Center Innovation Training Base and a Global Development Youth Leadership Home; Providing 100000 training and seminar spots to developing countries… The Global Development Initiative adheres to innovation driven development, focuses on high-quality sustainable development, cultivates and accumulates talents, and helps developing countries accelerate their progress on the path of modernization.
Selchuk Cholakolu, director of Türkiye’s Asia Pacific Research Center, said that the Global Development Initiative (GDI) combines China’s practice and development experience, aims to solve the specific problems of developing countries in different regions of the world in many fields, and promote countries to start a new journey of high-quality development like China.
Inspiring Vitality and Playing Global Southern Harmony
The next day, reports such as “Global South and Forum on China Africa Cooperation Summit Attracts Global Media Attention,” “Forum on China Africa Cooperation: Jointly Writing a New Chapter in Global South Cooperation,” and “True Friends of Those on the Same Road” made headlines in media outlets in Cuba, South Africa, Cambodia, and other countries, once again conveying the strong voice of the common development of countries in the global South to the world.
China is not pursuing modernization on its own, but is willing to work with other countries to achieve a world modernization of peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation, and common prosperity. China has always been a backbone force in promoting the development and revitalization of the global South.
On August 14, 2024, in Huye District, Southern Province, Rwanda, rice expert Zheng Ruijin (left) guided local rice farmers in transplanting seedlings in a rice field. Photo by Han Xu, Xinhua News Agency reporter
China has provided development assistance to over 160 countries and promoted global development initiative cooperation with more than 100 countries and international organizations such as the United Nations. From improving people’s livelihood to cultivating talents, from cultivating development momentum to sharing development experience, China focuses on the development challenges faced by the vast number of developing countries, and uses the development experience and achievements of Chinese path to modernization to provide impetus for the countries in the South to accelerate the modernization process.
Kenyan international relations expert Kavins Adhir said that the eight key priority areas of the Global Development Initiative “all reflect the development aspirations of emerging economies”. The article on the European website Modern Diplomacy states that the Global Development Initiative reflects China’s support for developing countries and emerging economies.
The Global Development Initiative emphasizes a more open and inclusive cooperation concept, creating a more diverse and sustainable new model of international development cooperation, which plays an important leading role in South South and trilateral cooperation, and promotes the common prosperity of countries in the global South through tangible cooperation results.
On September 19, 2023, local employees showcased seedlings at the China Aid Nigeria Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Abuja, Nigeria. Photo by Dong Jianghui, Xinhua News Agency reporter
In South South cooperation, China never attaches any political conditions and always sincerely helps developing countries enhance their independent development capabilities, constantly exploring new fields and ways of cooperation. In the trilateral cooperation, the third South South Cooperation Trust Fund between China and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has been officially launched. China is working with Switzerland on malaria prevention and control in Tanzania, and with Germany on agricultural cooperation in Nigeria.
Madagascar President Rajoelina said that China has played an important role in promoting South South cooperation. By working together, we can not only accelerate our own development, but also make important contributions to building a more equitable and multipolar world
Mohammed Izdin Abdul Monem, a member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, said that global development initiatives have had a positive impact in addressing global structural inequality and promoting common development among countries.
On July 25, 2023, children from Picoko Village School in Maputo Province, Mozambique stood in front of a house equipped with a Chinese assisted satellite TV receiving antenna. Photo by Dong Jianghui, Xinhua News Agency reporter
From the first clear statement of support for the African Union’s accession to the G20, to promoting the adoption of the Havana Declaration at the G77 and China Summit, calling for increased representation of developing countries in global decision-making bodies; From promoting the BRICS mechanism and expanding the membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to continuously improving multilateral cooperation frameworks such as the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, the China Latin America Community Forum, and the China Arab States Cooperation Forum, China has always been committed to developing multilateral frameworks and enhancing the voice of developing countries in international affairs.
Benjamin Mugana, the international editor in chief of The Guardian in Tanzania, said that the Global Development Initiative has significantly increased the representation and voice of countries in the global South in global governance, especially in addressing global issues such as climate change, energy security, and the digital economy.
Eduardo Regarado, a China expert at the Cuban International Policy Research Center, said that the global development initiative “promotes the development of the global governance system towards a more just and reasonable direction”.
This is a challenging era, but also a hopeful era. The Global Development Initiative focuses on the global development trend and is a Chinese proposal aimed at consolidating development consensus, cultivating new global development drivers, and promoting the construction of a united, equal, balanced, and inclusive global development partnership. Following the direction indicated by the initiative, with firm confidence and taking action, we will surely play a symphony of global common development and propel the giant wheel of human development towards a brighter future.
Text reporters: Qiao Jihong, Zhang Dailei, Deng Qian
Poster Design: Li Mengfan
Coordination: Sun Hao, Zhang Yuan, Wang Yachen, Xu Chao, Zhang Yan, Fang Sixian, Xiao Leitao