Editor's note: The Global Development Initiative aims to steer global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive development. China has been seeking to renew global focus on development issues and explore pathways for practical cooperation in an era when the world is beset with daunting challenges and great uncertainties. Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily.

Initiatives can help realize 2030 Agenda

By Zhu Xufeng

The United Nations development agenda is a series of goals and plans aimed at promoting sustainable development globally. The agenda was first developed in the 1990s and includes the UN Agenda 21, adopted in 1992, and the Millennium Development Goals, adopted in 2000.

Starting with the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, and through multilateral and multiparty negotiations and consultations, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was eventually adopted in 2015.

The 2030 Agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals across economic, social and environmental domains, and serves as an important document guiding global development. It specifically highlights the principle of "leaving no one behind" and concerns itself with the poverty alleviation and transformation of least developed countries.

Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, countries across the world have made significant progress in implementing the sustainable development goals. Some goals have already been achieved. Notably, China has met the goal of poverty reduction 10 years ahead of schedule, and made remarkable achievements in universal primary education and reduction in maternal and infant mortality rates.

Countries are also actively working to realize other SDGs in such areas as climate change, environmental protection and sustainable urban development. And the international community is strengthening cooperation and coordination to jointly address global challenges.

However, in the process of implementing the 2030 Agenda, there are also some difficulties and challenges. Some developing countries lack the economic, technological and human resources to realize the SDGs on schedule, while others still face internal and external imbalances in political, economic and social spheres, which hinder the realization of the SDGs.

In addition, global challenges such as climate change, environmental pollution and natural disasters also pose a threat to sustainable development. And the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, in particular, have worsened the uneven development of countries around the world.

Some of the least-developed countries that had just lifted themselves out of poverty have rapidly slipped back into poverty again due to factors such as stagnation of key industries, rising commodity prices, currency devaluation and soaring foreign debt. These issues have raised concerns among the international community about whether the world will be able to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Against this backdrop, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2021. The GDI aims to promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and calls on the international community to address the urgent issues faced by developing countries, in order to promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and realize global common development.

Apart from making major achievements in development at home, China is also ready to cooperate with all parties to promote the implementation of the GDI across the world. The initiative proposes that developing countries strengthen their capabilities to achieve economic, social and environmental development and eliminate poverty in a coordinated manner.

The GDI is of great significance for promoting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda globally. It provides important support and guidance for the least-developed countries to achieve sustainable development, and emphasizes the importance of eradicating poverty, promoting economic growth, improving education and health standards and protecting the environment, while proposing specific action plans and goals.

Besides, the GDI has received extensive support from the international community, including governments, international organizations, such as the UN, as well as nongovernmental organizations. The establishment of the "Group of Friends of the GDI" in 2022 and the convening of various ministerial-level meetings show that governments are willing to work with China to strengthen partnerships in areas such as poverty reduction, clean energy, food security, industrialization, digital education and sustainable development data sharing in a bid to realize the 2030 Agenda globally.

Yet the implementation of the GDI requires joint efforts and cooperation of all parties, bridging the differences among countries and further promoting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

First, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation and coordination to achieve the SDGs, so governments, international organizations and NGOs need to enhance cooperation and coordination to jointly promote sustainable development.

Second, developed countries need to provide more support and assistance to help the least-developed countries achieve sustainable development.

Third, countries should cooperate to enhance environmental protection, address climate change and continue climate change negotiations on the UN platform, so as to better protect global ecosystems and promote sustainable development.

And fourth, there is a need to improve the global governance system. For that, however, countries need to follow the principles of equality and mutual benefit in international affairs, and promote global development, while governments should strengthen the implementation and capacity building of the SDGs.

In summary, the GDI provides important support and assistance for the least-developed countries to realize the 2030 Agenda. And we hope the international community will continue to step up cooperation and promote the GDI, and work unitedly to realize the SDGs across the world.

Beijing offers source of hope for Nepal's growth

By Saroj Gautam

Nepal and China, as neighbors, have for years been engaging in cordial cooperation and enjoying trouble-free friendship.

Ever since becoming the world's second-largest economy, China has been supporting Nepal to boost its socioeconomic development with no political conditions attached. In this regard, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative have become a source of hope for Nepal. The country now believes that with China's help, it can transform itself from a land-locked Himalayan country to a "land-linked" economy between two giant economies, China and India.

Since the time when Beijing pledged to help Nepal achieve its development goals, Nepalese officials have realized that China's initiatives are best suited to improving connectivity, boosting trade and meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals. China's initiatives have also paved the way for collaboration in non-traditional security areas such as climate action.

China proposed the GDI to help meet the special needs of least-developed countries such as Nepal. But even before proposing the initiative, China had been providing material and medical assistance for Nepal. For instance, China supplied much-needed medicines, including COVID-19 vaccines, and medical equipment for Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping save many lives. No wonder Nepal has already become a part of the GDI. In fact, the "Nepal Smiling Children" project and the "Support to Schools and Communities in Remote Areas for Pandemic Prevention and Green Recovery" project are already progressing under the framework of the GDI.

Through the Nepal Smiling Children project, the China Foundation for Rural Development provides food for 3,600 children from poor communities in Kathmandu whereas the second project, as its name suggests, helps schools and communities in remote areas combat diseases and epidemics, and promotes eco-friendly economic recovery. The collaboration between the China Foundation for Rural Development Nepal Office and the Nepal Country Office of the UN Development Programme speaks volumes about the multilateral nature of the GDI.

As an all-weather friend, China's continuous support is helping Nepal boost development in multiple fields, including infrastructure, healthcare and people's livelihoods. The measures taken for upgrading and restoration of projects such as the Civil Service Hospital in Kathmandu and B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital in Chitwan have greatly improved healthcare services in Nepal.

China is Nepal's second-largest trading partner and the largest source of foreign direct investment. And Nepal expects the bilateral trade and investment relationship to further strengthen in the coming years.

In keeping with its GDI promise, China has exempted more than 8,000 Nepali goods from tariff, which will benefit Nepalese businesses and balance, to some extent, bilateral trade.

The Belt and Road Initiative, too, has raised hopes in Nepal, as it can play a critical role in expanding cooperation in different fields, including infrastructure connectivity, trade and investment, and tourism. The famous tourist site of Pokhara in Nepal saw an example of bilateral public diplomacy under the Belt and Road framework in the shape of the "Nepal-China Friendship Dragon Boat Race" on the occasion of Dragon Boat Festival last month.

The event also saw the commencement of civil aviation services at the Chinese-made Pokhara International Airport. While reviving tourism in the post-pandemic period, the airport will also improve connectivity in the region as well as boost trade, because it can operate flights to and from regional economic and trade hubs such as Xi'an, Lhasa, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and New Delhi.

Given China's impressive record of eradicating absolute poverty, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative are expected to also help the Nepalese government to alleviate poverty in the country and meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

As both the initiatives promote green development, Nepal must use them to deepen climate cooperation with China. Nepal is one of the worst climate change-affected countries in the world and suffers from funding gaps to mitigate the impacts of climate change. So cooperation with China in this field can help it promote green development and adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate.

True development is when countries develop together. So Nepal and China should better use the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative to develop together and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Building community with a shared future with GDI

By Zhai Kun

The world today faces two main problems: intertwined deficits and insufficient public goods. While changes in the international situation are unfolding in ways like never before, the growing global deficits of peace, development, governance, security and trust are creating new, daunting challenges for the world. On the other hand, the willingness and ability of developing countries to address these challenges are declining.

It is in this context that China proposed the Global Development Initiative as a global public good. The aim of the initiative is to help the world better tackle development problems.

However, China needs to find suitable ways to implement a "budget-friendly" GDI, which is in its early stages of development, and adapt to the changing global developments and improve the well-being of humankind as a whole.

The impacts of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have increased the need for global public goods, in order to meet the demands of development and solve the structural problems.

Both the developed and developing countries are facing difficulties in pursuing sustainable development because of their unbalanced development structures. Almost all countries are under pressure to deepen reforms, and cannot find ways to take their development agenda forward, for instance, even by integrating new energy with digital technology.

Besides, the industrialized countries' development models no longer appear feasible to developing countries, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, so they cannot and do not want to follow those models to boost their own development. More important, developing countries such as China are exploring their own paths to modernization despite difficulties.

Many countries, regional and international organizations believe the situation in the third decade of the 21st century may be worse than the earlier decades. Obviously, it is a huge challenge to provide the world with new public goods in such a situation. But at the same time, providing public goods would be a great contribution to global development.

China has been exploring ways to provide new global public goods since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, and the GDI proves it has the capability of offering new, more global public goods.

First, the GDI provides new ways for addressing global development problems, because it aims to promote common development and establish harmony between nature and humans by adopting a people-centered approach.

Second, the GDI has the potential to boost global development. Reform and opening-up have helped China develop a "can-do" attitude, which keeps instilling in it material and spiritual energy to promote common prosperity not only within the country but also across the world.

For example, China has never been short of confidence even in the face of the biggest challenge or crisis, be it the 2008 global financial crisis, the China-US strategic rivalry, the three-year COVID-19 pandemic or the Russia-Ukraine conflict. More important, helping the world overcome challenges has always been a part of China's development agenda.

As such, China is a "problem solver", rather than a "troublemaker" which some Western countries accuse it to be. In fact, China has helped address big global issues, which even the most advanced countries could not resolve, and boost global confidence.

And third, China provides two kinds of public goods for global development. The first are material goods, which include helping build infrastructure, and the other are knowledge goods including improving global connectivity that accelerated after the Belt and Road Initiative's implementation.

The GDI therefore should be seen as a means to not only boost global development but also help build a community with a shared future for mankind. However, China needs to cautiously decide the direction of the GDI, so as to optimize its development.

This means China needs to reduce the costs of providing global development public goods and prioritize "small but beautiful" global projects and foreign aid projects. It also needs to learn lessons from its experiences to plan a better future for related industries, while encouraging more and more civil society organizations, NGOS and private enterprises to provide public goods, and deepening cooperation with developed as well as developing countries to provide assistance to least-developed countries and vulnerable groups across the world.

Source: China Daily