Build GDI implementation platform for win-win development

Tang Ying, director-general of the Foreign Aid Support Center of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) and head of the Global Development Promotion Center (GDPC),recently published an article on China's efforts in proposing and implementing the Global Development Initiative(GDI) on People's Daily.

In the article, Tang said, according to the Human Development Report 2021-22 recently released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for the first time ever, the global Human Development Index (HDI) value declined for two years straight. In response to the challenging global development environment, China has been fulfilling the responsibilities of a major country in building a "big family". In September 2021, China proposed the GDI at the 76th United Nations General Assembly, which provided a direction for global development.

Development is the eternal theme of human civilization and common wish of people of all countries, she said. Prosperity, security and human rights can only be achieved when people are living a good life. The GDI reiterates the need to safeguard people's livelihoods and human rights when pursuing development, and enhance their sense of gain, happiness and security to achieve the overall development of human society, she added. 

Tang said the GDI fully reflects the Chinese philosophy that "A just cause should be pursued for the common good", and that China will always strive to be a contributor to and promoter of global development.

The GDI upholds real multilateralism and firmly upholds the international system with the UN at its core, the international order based on international law and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and supports the UN in playing a coordinating role in global development cooperation, according to the article. It calls for more input in development resources with a focus on fields such as poverty alleviation, food security, COVID-19 response and vaccines, development financing, climate change and green development, industrialization, the digital economy, and connectivity. Those areas are all in sync with the 17 goals of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, are consistent with the concerns and needs of developing countries, and are conducive in uniting the international community, including the UN and other multilateral institutions, to jointly tackle development issues, she said.

She introduced that China has been dedicated to assisting other developing countries in improving their economies and people's livelihoods for over 70 years. The worsening of global deficits brought more urgent and diversified needs for development. Under the framework of the GDI, China's foreign aid is transcending into international development and cooperation. With the concept of "teaching people how to fish", China is unreservedly sharing its development experience and industrial technologies to other developing countries, in a bid to foster local talents so that they can be self-reliant. The Chinese path to modernization has achieved historical progress and provides an important reference for other countries to explore development models based on self-reliance.

At the High-level Dialogue on Global Development in June, China announced a series of pragmatic measures, including establishing the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and the Global Development Promotion Center, and resumed the core status of development on the international agenda with joint efforts from other countries, said Tang, adding that the GDI’s implementation has achieved tangible progress.

She went on to introduce the CIDCA’s efforts in implementing the GDI. The CIDCA takes a leading role in establishing the Global Development Promotion Center, with the aim of building the center into a sharing platform for promoting ideas, innovating methods, pooling resources and stimulating action.

The CIDCA established a project pool for global development, focusing on key areas to carry out "small yet smart" projects with GDI Group of Friends countries. The agency welcomes all parties, including UN agencies, to participate in the building and financing of the project pool, to jointly incubate projects that benefit the people.

The Forum on Global Action for Shared Development was established. A series of events was hosted under the forum's framework, including the first anti-corruption-themed forum in  the history of China's international development cooperation.

A digital publicity platform for global development was built, where customized publicity events will be organized for Group of Friends countries.

The CIDCA has also established a network for global development promotion, with an efficient and convenient communication mechanism among related departments of Group of Friends countries and UN development agencies to enable better cooperation and stronger partnerships.