Forum on China’s Policies and Practices on Foreign Aid and International Development Cooperation

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,                                                                                                                   

I am pleased to join you today at this Forum focused on policies and practices for foreign aid and international development. I was with many of you just a couple of months ago, participating in the inauguration of the China International Development Cooperation Agency’s (CIDCA) new Global Development Promotion Center. These, and other recent initiatives, are indicators of the considerable momentum CIDCA is building and the progress it is making under the superb leadership of Chairman Luo Zhaohui.

China’s commitment to growing its foreign aid and international development cooperation efforts comes at a critical juncture in our global efforts to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We saw this recently in Geneva, Switzerland where the Chairman of CIDCA joined the UN Secretary-General to mobilize resources in support of Pakistan’s recovery from the devastating floods the country has endured. Excellency, thank you for your strong support to the UN Secretary-General’s call to action in support of Pakistan’s recovery. A clear indication of China’s commitment to multilateralism.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are at a pivotal moment in history due to the complex and interconnected global crises we currently face.

Climate change poses an existential threat to all of humanity. Inequalities are deepening, with more than 70 per cent of the world’s population living in countries with rising income and wealth inequality.

Economies everywhere are suffering from record inflation, high interest rates, and soaring energy and food prices. There are 27 ongoing conflicts across the world, and we have already reached a grim milestone of over 100 million people displaced, the largest displacement since the Second World War. Amid these challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic has left lingering impacts on lives, livelihoods and economies.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a roadmap for addressing the global challenges we face, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

The foundation of the SDGs is based on peace and security, development and human rights. I commend China’s establishment of its Global Development Initiative, and its recent upgrading of its Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund offers significant potential for accelerating global progress toward achieving the SDGs.

The UN in China is fully committed to providing technical assistance and expertise to the Government of China, to CIDCA and other development institutions and partners, to help align these initiatives with global norms and standards and with the whole of the SDGs.

The exciting and challenging task of operationalizing China’s development institutions and mechanisms to live up to this great potential is what we come here today to discuss and will be the focus of much hard work in the coming years. This will depend on multilateral engagement, learning, and collaboration. You can count on the UN family’s full support. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed in a recent briefing to the General Assembly on Priorities for 2023, “We cannot move incrementally. This is not a time for tinkering. It is a time for transformation.”

We welcome the opportunity to support our Chinese colleagues and counterparts to rise to this challenge and to help reinvigorate this Decade of Action toward achieving the SDGs.

Thank you.