CIDCA vice-chairman delivers speech at 2023 BFA Annual Conference

On March 29, Zhao Fengtao, vice-chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), delivered a speech at a session on "Ensuring Both Development and Security" during the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2023, which was held in Boao, Hainan province.

Themed on expanding international development cooperation with Chinese characteristics, Zhao noted that development is an eternal theme for human society and that security is a basic need for the sustainment of humanity. The pursuit of development and security is a common aspiration of all humanity, as well as the theme of the present times, Zhao said, adding that China has effectively coordinated security and development, and achieved rapid economic development while maintaining long-term social stability. When the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was suffering setbacks, China proposed the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, as well as the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, which have helped bring peace and development back on track with the times, he said.

He reiterated that China is not only an advocate, but also a proponent of action in international development cooperation and global security. The high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has created 420,000 jobs and lifted 40 million people out of poverty, and the GDI has been implemented with concrete measures and aligned with the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he noted. China's international cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic yielded the country's largest and longest emergency humanitarian assistance since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the nation has been expanding multilateral and trilateral cooperation, and cooperated with international organizations in more than 50 countries to carry out more than 130 projects, benefiting over 20 million people, according to Zhao.

He pledged that China is ready to deepen cooperation with all parties to resolve security issues for more development, further collect consensus on sustainable development, and adhere to a global development pattern that features North-South development cooperation as the mainstay and South-South cooperation as the complement.

This session focused on development achievements and solutions for security hurdles. The 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chairman of the BFA Ban Ki-moon, former president of Slovenia Danilo Turk, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade and Energy of Dominica Vince Henderson, Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives of Pakistan Ahsan Iqbal, former president of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, and Deputy Director of China National Narcotics Control Commission Andy Tsang also attended and spoke at the session.