VII. Strengthening International Exchanges and Tripartite Cooperation

The global development partnership is an important part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China is an active advocate and practitioner of this partnership. We have held dialogues and exchanges with international institutions and bilateral donors to explore and conduct tripartite cooperation with an open and pragmatic attitude, thus injecting new impetus into international cooperation.

1. China's Position on Exchanges and Tripartite Cooperation

China is open to exchanges and tripartite cooperation in the field of international development, and will, as a developing country, seek such cooperation with various parties to extend international development cooperation and enhance its capacity in this field.

– Working for a more equitable and balanced global development partnership. China upholds the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" and regards North-South cooperation as the main channel for international development cooperation and South-South cooperation as its complement.

We urge developed countries to honor their official development assistance commitments on time and in full, provide more assistance to developing countries, especially the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing countries, and help them to explore development paths in line with their national conditions.

We encourage developing countries to expand South-South cooperation and strive to achieve unity and self-reliance. We believe international organizations with the UN at the core should make full use of their strengths, extend information sharing and coordination with all parties, and actively promote international development cooperation through multilateral channels. We encourage the private sector, NGOs and social groups, and charitable organizations to play a greater role.

– Steadily advancing tripartite cooperation in international development. China has accumulated a lot of experience in the process of its own development, while developed countries and international organizations have an edge in capital and technology. China is ready to explore cooperation approaches with other parties that will complement the strengths of each and achieve greater synergy, so as to bring maximum benefits to recipient countries.

All parties should advance tripartite cooperation in steps, as it covers a wide range of areas and involves hard work, and countries differ in their models of and approaches to cooperation. In tripartite cooperation, we should fully respect the policies, ideas and models of all parties, uphold the principle of mutual respect and mutual learning, enhance mutual understanding and trust, and lay a good foundation for trilateral cooperation. China is ready to draw on successful international experience and effective practices.

– Fully respecting the controlling voice of recipient countries in tripartite cooperation. In the final analysis, the goal of tripartite cooperation is to benefit the recipient countries. It is thus necessary to fully respect their sovereignty and controlling voice based on the principle that projects should be proposed, agreed and led by the recipient countries. The criteria are whether the recipient countries welcome, approve of, and are satisfied with the cooperation programs. Cooperation should focus on meeting the humanitarian and employment needs of the recipient countries and improving local people's lives, and enhancing their capacity in independent and sustainable development.

2. Advancing Dialogue, Exchanges and Pragmatic Cooperation

Based on the principle of openness and inclusiveness, China has advanced communication and exchanges with countries and organizations and carried out pragmatic and tripartite cooperation.

– Holding in-depth dialogue and discussions. China has actively participated in international conferences and activities such as the Second High-Level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation and the Fifth International Meeting on Triangular Cooperation.

In 2019, China participated in the European Development Days, communicating with all parties on strengthening international development cooperation and on helping developing countries achieve inclusive growth. China co-hosted seminars with the UN development system in China to exchange views and build consensus on South-South cooperation and sustainable development.

China has actively advanced reform of the World Bank's governance structure to increase the representation and voice of developing countries. To expand understanding, mutual learning, mutual trust and cooperation, we have strengthened exchanges with bilateral donors and conducted exchanges and visits with more than 10 countries and regional organizations, including Japan, Switzerland, the UK, France, Norway, New Zealand, and the European Union. In 2019, China held bureau-level policy consultations with Japan and the EU on international development cooperation.

– Carrying out pragmatic cooperation with international organizations. Since 2016, China has cooperated through the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund with more than 10 international organizations and NGOs such as the UNDP, WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, and ICRC. Through these organizations and leveraging their expertise and channels, China has helped implement development cooperation programs in the fields of food assistance, post-disaster reconstruction, refugee relief, and health for women and children in nearly 50 countries in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and some other regions, benefiting more than 20 million people in developing countries.

For example, China worked with UNICEF in providing assistance to about 250,000 Somali women and children with severe acute malnutrition. We worked with the UNDP on case studies and jointly published research reports at the UN headquarters, presenting China's effective agricultural aid and experience through an agro-technical cooperation program in Guinea-Bissau and an agro-technical pilot center in Mozambique, making our aid process more transparent. The UNESCO-China Funds-in-Trust Project was launched, which has benefited over 10,000 teachers from more than 10 African countries.

– Carrying out tripartite cooperation programs. China has carried out cooperation programs with official and unofficial donors such as Switzerland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to meet local needs in agriculture, health and other areas.

For example, China cooperated with Portugal to organize training courses in East Timor on mariculture technology. We worked with the US to train health officials for African countries and to support these countries in fighting the Ebola virus. We cooperated with the UK in implementing pilot projects – a cassava industrial chain in Uganda and a tilapia industrial chain in Malawi. In cooperation with Australia, we carried out a malaria prevention and control program in Papua New Guinea and helped the country to found a network of provincial-level malaria laboratories, thus enhancing its capabilities in routine malaria diagnosis and monitoring.

– Increasing donations. China has increased its donations to the World Bank's International Development Association, Asian Development Fund, Global Environment Facility and other international organizations to support poverty reduction and sustainable development in developing countries, especially the least developed countries.

By the end of 2018, China had donated US$939 million and RMB800 million to the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, US$356 million and RMB59 million to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, and US$49 million and RMB41 million to the Caribbean Development Bank to support Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in many areas including poverty reduction, food security, trade, medical care, disaster management, education, and environmental protection. China donated US$80 million to establish a FAO-China South-South Cooperation Trust Fund, which has supported agricultural cooperation projects in some 30 countries, benefiting more than one million local farmers. China also provided US$50 million and US$4 million respectively to the project preparation funds of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, to support member countries in their pre-project design.

– Promoting co-financing. China has strengthened exchanges and cooperation with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other multilateral and bilateral financial institutions to provide financial support to some countries.

We established the China-World Bank Group Partnership Facility with the World Bank, and set up the People's Republic of China Poverty Reduction and Regional Cooperation Fund in the ADB. We invested US$2 billion to establish the Africa Growing Together Fund with the AfDB and the same amount to establish the China Co-Financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean with the IDB.

By the end of 2018, these co-financing mechanisms had invested about US$3 billion in nearly 200 projects covering water supply and sanitation, transport, agriculture, youth employment and other areas.