Role of Global South explored at UN China Dialogue

With global progress on sustainable development stalling or in reverse, participants in remarks and panel discussions during the dialogue sought to highlight how this challenge has been felt most acutely in the Global South, given many lingering impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and current economic realities, strengthening the need for reform of multilateral institutions and bringing onboard strong partners in the process, such as China.

During his remarks at the dialogue, UN Resident Coordinator in China, Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, said, “The UN remains committed to enhancing our collaboration with China, and offering our networks, platforms and expertise, to convene, connect and catalyze partnerships, accelerating global progress on the SDGs. Today’s event is an integral part of this work, with this dialogue highlighting opportunities to scale up South-South collaboration.”

This dialogue took place against the backdrop of the Summit of the Future being held at UN Headquarters in New York, where world leaders recently agreed to the adoption of the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations, with the Pact designed to turbocharge implementation of the SDGs and seek reform of the international financial architecture to better represent and serve developing countries. 

During her prerecorded remarks at the dialogue, Under-Secretary-General and Special Advisor on Africa to the UN Secretary-General, Ms. Cristina Duarte, said, “The conceptual framework of the SDGs breaks from traditional development thinking…the framework is structured to reflect that SDG implementation is a call for collaboration, not competition. This applies to all actors and stakeholders.”

As highlighted by the dialogue, the UN in China has aimed to enhance its collaboration with the Government of China to elevate its role as a provider of international development assistance by offering technical support and expertise while exploring the potential of efforts such as the Global Development Initiative and the Belt and Road Initiative to foster enhanced South-South cooperation in support of the SDGs, including in African countries.

During his remarks at the dialogue, Chief Expert of the International Cooperation Center and Former Vice President and Executive Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Xinhua News Agency, Mr. Ma Shengrong, said, “Amid the deepening evolution of the century's major changes, China is committed to expanding new areas of cooperation with the Global South through mechanisms including trilateral cooperation, actively promoting the international agenda to focus on development and poverty alleviation issues.”

Other speakers at the dialogue included officials from the Government of China, Ambassadors of Global South countries, and representatives from the UN in China, research institutions and the private sector, who featured alongside the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, many of whom used the occasion to highlight China’s relevant contributions.

“China has saving, it has technology, it has cost advantage, it has remarkable productive capacity in manufacturing for the hardware that the world needs. So I think China is really at the center of this – what should be the new global financial architecture of providing long-term finance for rapid growth of low and lower-middle-income countries,” said Professor Sachs.

On the same note, emphasizing China’s role as a major contributor to the Global South, Vice Chairman of the Hunan Provincial People’s Consultative Conference and President of Xiangtan University Mr. Pan Biling said during his remarks at the dialogue, “With the support of the International Cooperation Center and the UN in China, we will carry out more pragmatic international development partnerships to serve South-South cooperation and promote common development.”

The UN in China and the International Cooperation Center thank participants for their contributions and ideas during the dialogue.