CHARTING COURSE FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
To muster concerted efforts and chart the course for global development ranks high on the agenda of the BRICS cooperation.
When chairing the High-level Dialogue on Global Development on Friday in virtual format, Xi called for forging high-quality partnership for a new era of global development.
"We must get a good grasp of the overarching development trend in the world, firm up confidence, and act in unison and with great motivation to promote global development and foster a development paradigm featuring benefits for all, balance, coordination, inclusiveness, win-win cooperation and common prosperity," he said.
Xi noted that at last year's UN General Assembly session, he put forth the Global Development Initiative (GDI).
"China will take pragmatic steps to give continued support to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Xi said.
The medical supplies donated by China arrive at Or Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 14, 2020. (Chinese Embassy in South Africa/Handout via Xinhua)
The GDI proposed by Xi sets out to tackle such development issues as food security, environment, climate change and poverty, said Charles Onunaiju, director of the Abuja-based Center for China Studies, hailing China for sharing Chinese expertise in the eradication of poverty and food security with the rest of the world.
Xi's speech has demonstrated China's commitment to sharing development opportunities with the rest of the world in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, chairman of a Dhaka-based think-tank Research and Policy Integration for Development, told Xinhua.
Describing China's proposals at the forum as "very timely and thoughtful," Razzaque stressed that China has already been playing a critical role in helping other countries integrate with the global economy.
For Sudheendra Kulkarni, former chairman of Mumbai-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation, the GDI means development for all without any discrimination.
"Whether the country is small or big, whether the country is rich or poor, whether the country is militarily strong or weak, all have to be treated equally, and the fruits of development, the fruits of technological revolution must reach all," he added.
