Promote the construction of a global development community
Development is an eternal theme of human society. Shared development is an important path to building a better world. On September 5th, the China International Development Knowledge Center officially released the Global Development Report 2023 in Beijing. More than 80 representatives from 20 countries, more than ten international organizations, relevant departments of the Chinese government, and think tanks attended the press conference both online and offline.
The Global Development Report 2023, with the theme of "Global Development at a crossroads in history," analyzes the current global development status, main trends, and proposes corresponding strategies. The attending guests positively evaluated the important progress made since the proposal of the Global Development Initiative, believing that the initiative plays an important role in consolidating international consensus, cooperating to address global challenges, and implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will help cultivate new drivers of global development and promote the construction of a global development community.
"Proposed effective measures and methods to address challenges"
The release of the Global Development Report is an important measure taken by China to implement global development initiatives, aiming to provide useful reference for the development of various countries and intellectual support for global development. The Global Development Report 2023 is the second report released by China after the Global Development Report was released in June last year.
"The original intention and positioning of regularly writing and publishing the Global Development Report is to provide the world with the views and proposals of Chinese think tanks on global development issues." Zhao Changwen, Executive Deputy Director of the China International Development Knowledge Center, said that as China increasingly approaches the center stage of the world, its connections with the world are becoming closer and mutual influence is becoming more profound. The international community is highly concerned about China's development and direction, and at the same time, China is also paying more attention to global development and hopes to make its due contributions.
The Global Development Report 2023 specifically analyzes the prominent and urgent issues facing global development from seven aspects: poverty reduction, food security, public health, development financing, energy transformation, industrialization, and digitization, and recommends that countries bridge their development deficits on a win-win basis. Both developed and developing countries should do their best and fulfill their respective responsibilities. Developed countries should play a leading role and increase support, while developing countries should make contributions within their capabilities based on their national conditions.
Former Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Okbe, is an international consulting expert for the Global Development Report 2023. He said, "This report points out the severe challenges facing our era and proposes effective measures and methods to address them. At the same time, the report fully considers the interests of developing countries, which account for 80% of the world's population."
Woods, Dean of the Brawanik School of Government at the University of Oxford in the UK, stated that the Global Development Report 2023 analyzes the challenges facing global development and identifies areas for improvement in global governance. "This report prompts us to think about how to rebuild trust: rebuilding trust in the development system, rebuilding trust in global governance.".
"A beneficial way to share successful experiences with other countries"
Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, especially since the reform and opening up, we have completed the industrialization process that developed Western countries have gone through for hundreds of years in just a few decades, creating miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability. Chinese path to modernization provides a new choice for mankind to realize modernization. The Global Development Report 2023 talked about China's development practices and contributions, which resonated widely with the attending guests.
Adhere to the development concept of putting the people at the center, win the battle against poverty, and eliminate absolute poverty; Making high-quality development the primary task of comprehensively building a socialist modernized country; Adhering to the concept that green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver, and vigorously promoting the construction of a beautiful China... Jorgen Landers, Honorary Professor at BI Norwegian Business School and co-founder of the Rome Club China Committee, stated that China has achieved tremendous development achievements and greatly improved the well-being of the Chinese people. At the same time, China actively promotes the green transformation of its development model, setting an example for the world. "China's development model is worth learning from by other countries. The release of the 'Global Development Report' is a beneficial way for China to share successful experiences with other countries."
The Global Development Report 2023 states that China's comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society is not only the well-being of the Chinese people, but also an important contribution to global development, injecting confidence and strength. It provides a new choice for countries and ethnic groups in the world who hope to accelerate development while maintaining their independence, and provides opportunities for the development of all countries.
"China has not only promoted its own economic development, but also contributed to the growth of the world economy." Okabe proved his point with a set of data: over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, hundreds of millions of people in China have been lifted out of poverty, contributing over 70% to global poverty reduction; In the new era of 10 years, China's annual average contribution rate to world economic growth has exceeded 30%. He said that China has brought inspiration to the development and rise of other developing countries, and we believe that China will play an important role in promoting the international community to respond to challenges and shape a sustainable future.
"China's development has made profound contributions to sustainable human development"
Over the past two years, the Global Development Initiative has received active response and broad participation from the international community. More than 100 countries and multiple international organizations, including the United Nations, have supported the initiative. Nearly 70 countries have joined the "Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative" initiated by China. Half of the 32 practical measures listed in the "List of Results of the Global Development High Level Dialogue" have been implemented or achieved early results, and multiple developing countries are benefiting from more than 100 projects in the Global Development Initiative project library.
The report points out that China has actively implemented the global development initiative, strengthened international technical cooperation and knowledge sharing, made positive progress in global governance on major issues, and injected China's impetus into global development by proposing new ideas and initiatives, promoting high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road".
Rivkin, founder of the American Economic Trends Foundation and international consulting expert for the Global Development Report 2023, stated that in recent years, China has put forward a series of new ideas and initiatives in the face of global governance challenges, and actively promoted it to become an international public good. China has always adhered to the concept of harmony but diversity in handling international relations. Rivkin said, "Abandoning zero sum game thinking is an important way for us to benefit future generations and create a better future."
Okbe stated that China is a responsible major country and plays an important role in South South cooperation. Cooperation with China is an important driving force for economic growth on the African continent. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between Africa and China reached 282 billion US dollars, and China has become an important partner for Africa in agriculture, manufacturing, and green development. "We look forward to China playing a greater role in promoting global economic growth, sharing science and technology, and improving global governance."
Du Huixian, former senior advisor to the United Nations Secretary General and member of the Rome Club, used the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as an example to say that this international multilateral institution advocated by China "reflects China's willingness to share successful development experiences with other countries.".
"China's development has made profound contributions to sustainable human development," said Peter Nolan, founding director of the Development Research Center at the University of Cambridge in the UK. The Global Development Report 2023 discusses key issues in global sustainable development. In the face of multiple global crises, China's philosophy and initiatives "help to break free from the shackles of zero sum thinking, move towards cooperation and win-win, and thus solve the common problems faced by all mankind.".
