CIDCA vice-chairman addresses preparatory meeting for UN Summit of the Future

A preparatory meeting for the United Nations Summit of the Future 2024 was held in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, on Aug 24. Vice-Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) Zhao Fengtao addressed the meeting themed on "investing in a sustainable future".

Pointing out that global development efforts are suffering from a tremendous shortage in financing, Zhao said that the China-proposed Global Development Initiative (GDI) not only aligns with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and pushes the international community to put development in a more prominent position on the global agenda, it is also future-oriented and has injected impetus to development beyond 2030. Under the GDI framework, China has continued to provide resources by increasing the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund to $4 billion, and reformed foreign assistance modalities such as debt-for-development swaps and the integration of aid, trade and investment. Efforts were made to raise funds through multiple channels, mobilizing domestic and foreign financial institutions to establish a special fund of $14 billion, and creating global development project and capital pools. A combination of financing paths were explored to guide the debt capital market to support sustainable development in accordance with market-based principles. In addition, the CIDCA as the agency responsible for China’s international development cooperation has facilitated the building of platforms for financing cooperation, hosted a series of gatherings, including the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development and the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation, and established the Global Development Promotion Center and the Global Development Promotion Center Network, in a bid to reach a consensus on and promote action for global development.

Zhao noted that the current structural imbalance in international financing for development calls for all parties to work together to expand effective investment and jointly advance the process of sustainable development. 

China will continue to deepen South-South cooperation, strengthen North-South dialogue, and promote the building of a global partnership for development, he said, calling on developed countries to earnestly fulfill their international responsibilities and honor their aid and financing commitments. 

China will continue to deepen cooperation in human resources development, enhance the financing capacity and development resilience of development partners, and help them to thoroughly integrate with economic globalization and free trade. China will also continuously tap the leveraging role of government funds to improve the development financing system that integrates governments, the private sector and financial institutions, he added. 

Zhao concluded by saying that China will step up coordination and cooperation with the UN and other multilateral institutions, jointly build a sustainable investment and financing system, and advance the integrated implementation of the GDI and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with the aim of increasing prospects for post-2030 global development. 

UN Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua, Vice-Mayor of Shenzhen Dai Jintao and President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Jin Liqun addressed the meeting in person or via video link.