Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, makes a speech at the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development on July 10, 2023 in Beijng. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a congratulatory letter to the first high-level conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development, during which he stressed China's commitment to contributing to global development cooperation and pushing for sustainable development around the globe.

This forum, held amid growing calls for narrowing the gap between developing and developed countries, and with the world facing old and new intertwined problems, has highlighted China's leading role and commitment in helping developing countries develop, and its efforts in defending cooperation amid rising unilateralism. Experts hailed the move as standing in contrast to certain Western countries, which have neglected the widening wealth gap, and put their own interests over those of developing countries; and spared no effort in smearing China's contributions to helping those nations.

In his letter, Xi said the changes taking place in the world unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace, the world economy is struggling to recover and the global development agenda is facing challenges.

"To build a consensus on cooperation and promote common development, I have put forward the Global Development Initiative in order to help accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and I am pleased to see that with the joint participation of all parties, cooperation on the Global Development Initiative has yielded important early results and benefited many developing countries," Xi said.

He emphasized that development is the eternal theme of human society, and shared development is an important path to building a better world. As the world's largest developing country, China has always placed its own development within the larger context of human development and created new opportunities for the development of the world through its own development, Xi said.

China will further increase its resource input for global development cooperation, work with the international community to further advance the GDI, and make new contributions to the realization of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, the Chinese president said.

The first high-level conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development, hosted by the China International Development Cooperation Agency, kicked off in Beijing on Monday under the theme "Global Development Initiative: Echo the Development Agenda and Call for Global Action." Participants came from 130 countries and international organizations.

Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said at the forum that more than 100 countries and international organizations have supported the China-proposed Global Development Initiative (GDI), and nearly 70 countries participated in the Group of Friends of the GDI, and there are nearly 200 projects included under the GDI.

China will take more active, effective and sustainable measures to push for the implementation of GDI, and will also seek to deepen cooperation with partners via non-reimbursable assistance, preferential loan cooperative funds and other channels, said Wang.

Speaking at the forum on Monday, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said that the world is facing intertwined crises such as post-COVID impact, conflicts and climate change, which gave the forum a stronger sense of mission and responsibility. 

Sogavare noted that we need to transcend the idea of using ideology and geopolitics to divide the world, stay united, and keep exploring creative cooperation roads to narrow the gap between rich and poor. He also proposed using the Belt and Road Initiative to share development experience, in order to transform countries' potential into prosperity. 

The forum is a testimony to the contribution China has made to the world on pushing for sustainable development. The GDI gives the world the opportunity to strengthen cooperation for the Sustainable Development Goals, which were supposed to be reached by 2030; but due to so many challenges and problems, the achievement is not quite perfect, Hermann Immongault, Gabon's foreign minister told the Global Times.

But the GDI is very fruitful, and it's a good thing for all countries, "so I really would like to pay tribute to this forum and to this conference," said Immongault.

Many speakers expressed gratitude for China's contributions to helping other countries, especially developing countries reach sustainable development. Satu Santala, associate vice-president of the External Relations and Governance Department at the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said at a panel that China has greatly boosted food security over the past four decades, and made huge strides in pushing the development of agriculture and of villages.

China has abundant experience in sharing and we welcome China's GDI, said Santala. 

Dilma Vana Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank, delivered a video speech to the conference, saying that if there's no tolerance for sustainable development, there won't be stability, and no stability means no peace or security. She pointed out that prosperity must be shared by all countries, instead of being limited only to a few countries, which means economic development must be built based on social equality and a healthy environment.

Unequal development has been highlighted in recent years as it leads to various problems such as issues related to climate change and influx of refugees, which is why China-proposed GDI and sustainable development is welcomed by a wide range of developing countries, Shen Shiwei, from the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, who also attended the forum, told the Global Times. 

Shen pointed out that in contrast with Western countries imposing its rules and practices on developing countries, China's proposals integrate local practice and provide experience for developing countries. He slammed Western countries' smearing of China's assistance in helping global South countries.