Commencement speech by CIDCA Vice-Chairman Deng Boqing to the Class of 2022 at the ISSCAD

Commencement speech by CIDCA Vice-Chairman 

Deng Boqing to the Class of 2022 at the ISSCAD

Distinguished guests,

Dear teachers and fellow students,

It gives me great pleasure to attend the 2022 commencement of the Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development (ISSCAD), witnessing the special and important moment with all the distinguished guests, teachers and students. First of all, on behalf of the China International Development Cooperation Agency and Chairman Luo Zhaohui, I would like to extend warm congratulations to the graduates and heartfelt thanks to the teachers!

President Xi Jinping was personally involved in advancing the establishment and development of the ISSCAD. In September 2015, President Xi announced at the United Nations that the Chinese government would establish the ISSCAD. In October 2017, in a letter of reply to the first graduates with master's degree of the ISSCAD, President Xi encouraged them to become leaders of reform and development in their own countries and practitioners of global South-South cooperation. In July last year, President Xi sent a congratulatory letter to the ISSCAD on its fifth anniversary, hoping that the institute will continue to build a base for training high-caliber talents and a platform for research and exchanges among developing countries, and make greater contributions to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

With care and encouragement from President Xi, the ISSCAD has been actively committed to sharing governance experiences of China and other developing countries, bringing together nearly 300 outstanding students from more than 60 countries and training high-end talents in government management for various developing countries. In the face of the sudden and continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past years, you have actively overcome various difficulties and challenges and persisted in your online studies, demonstrating your thirst for knowledge, and your helping hands and dedication to fight against the pandemic have showed your great love for the world when overcoming the difficulties together. Today, you have successfully passed your defenses and obtained degrees, and I am proud of you from the bottom of my heart.

Fellow students,

Development is the eternal theme of human society. At present, we are facing a situation where the changes and the pandemic, both unseen in a century, are intertwined, the world economic recovery suffers a setback, the North-South development gap is widening, and the momentum of development cooperation is weakening. The implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is facing unprecedented challenges.

At this historical juncture, President Xi Jinping, for the well-being of humanity, proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI) at the United Nations. Aiming at building a global community of development, the GDI gives priority to development, puts people front and center, and promotes the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for a stronger, greener and healthier global development. The GDI has sounded a "rallying call" to focus on development, paving a "fast track" to promote development and providing a "gas pedal" to achieve the 2030 Agenda. It has received warm response and firm support from more than 100 countries since it was proposed. Yesterday, President Xi chaired the High-Level Dialogue on Global Development, joining leaders from emerging markets and developing countries to discuss ways to promote global development and "make a new start” in international development cooperation.

Fellow students,

China is an advocate of global development and a practitioner of development cooperation. As the world's largest developing country, we have always stood with other developing countries and actively worked to turn China's development into opportunities for the world.

China fully supports other developing countries in reducing poverty, improving people's livelihood and enhancing their capacity for independent development. Over the past 70 years, China has provided development assistance to more than 160 developing countries, implemented thousands of package projects and material projects, carried out more than 10,000 capacity building projects, and provided training for nearly 400,000 personnel. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has provided anti-pandemic materials to 153 countries and 15 international organizations, dispatched 37 medical expert teams to 34 countries, shared its experiences in pandemic prevention and control with more than 180 countries and international organizations, and supplied more than 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to over 120 countries and international organizations.

Looking ahead, China will take a series of pragmatic measures to materialize the GDI proposed by President Xi and make new contributions to the cause of global development. We will continue to strengthen exchanges of experiences in governance with other developing countries and support them in exploring development paths that suit their national conditions. We are willing to work together with other developing countries to help each other and to forge a new path of development and prosperity.

Fellow students,

As I bid farewell, I would like to share three sayings with you: First, "One can only travel far by keeping in mind the journey of the past.” I hope that you can uphold the original aspiration of your study and turn what you have learned into wisdom and practice to bridge the "development deficit", and to jointly promote the implementation of the GDI.

Second, “By following the trend of history and taking the right path, one can reach high and go far.” We should follow the trend of history, firmly uphold the global governance system with the UN at its core, oppose the politicization and marginalization of development issues, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Third, "Nothing, not even mountains and oceans, can separate people with shared goals and vision." I hope you will cherish friendship, be eternal friends and partners, become envoys of friendship and cooperation between your countries and China, and make new contributions to promoting South-South cooperation.

Finally, may the ISSCAD continue to make new achievements! I wish all of you a bright future, health and happiness.

Thank you all!

(The speech were delivered on June 25, 2022 at the Peking University Hall, Beijing.)