As the world is faced with stiff challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, regional conflicts, and backlash against globalization, the international community is striving for maintaining development while tackling deficits in global peace and governance.

"This is an age rife with challenges, but it is also an age full of hope." Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out as he hosted the High-level Dialogue on Global Development on Friday in virtual format.

Xi noted some countries have politicized and marginalized the development issue, built "a small yard with high fences," imposed maximum sanctions, and stoked division and confrontation.

And he urged international community to recognize the prevailing trend of 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.

Realizing people's dream for a better life

Xi recounted the story and his experience of being a farmer on the Loess Plateau in the late 1960s when speaking at the event.

He said that after visiting cities, towns and villages across China and many countries in the world throughout the years, one deep impression he got is that only through continuous development can the people's dream for a better life and social stability be realized.

Stressing placing development at the center of international agenda, Xi called for implementing the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and building a political consensus that development is valued by all people and cooperation is jointly pursued by all countries.

Pursuing common development

Under Xi's guidance, China has been committed to building a world of common prosperity. On Friday, Xi made four proposals for promoting common development.

He called for jointly building international consensus on promoting development. "Only when people all over the world live better lives can prosperity be sustained, security safeguarded and human rights solidly grounded."

He said the international community should work together to create an enabling international environment for development featured with open world economy and a just and equitable global governance system.

Protectionist moves will boomerang; anyone attempting to form exclusive blocs will end up isolating himself, Xi noted, adding maximum sanctions serve nobody's interest, and practices of decoupling and supply disruption are neither feasible nor sustainable.

The Chinese president also highlighted the necessity of fostering new drivers for development, saying efforts should be made to step up scientific and technological innovation as well as institutional innovation, advance modern industries, bridge the digital gap, and speed up low-carbon transition.

In terms of development, no country or individual should be left behind, Xi stressed, calling for forging a global development partnership.

"Developed countries should fulfill their obligations, developing countries should deepen cooperation, and the South and the North should meet each other halfway," said Xi.

China's solid promise

Bearing in mind the well-being of the entire humanity, Xi proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI) at the General Debate of the 76th United Nations General Assembly in September 2021 in steering global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth, which has been warmly received and strongly supported by more than 100 countries.

On Friday, Xi announced China's further pragmatic steps to give continued support to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote global prosperity.

He said China will upgrade the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to a Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, adding $1 billion to the fund on top of the $3 billion already committed as well as increase input to the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund.

China is willing to work with all sides to advance cooperation in poverty reduction and eradication, food production and supply, green development, vaccines' innovation, research and development as well as enhancing industrialization and connectivity, Xi noted.

According to the Chinese president, the country will set up a platform for experience and knowledge sharing on international development, a global development promotion center and a global knowledge network for development, for the purpose of exchanging governance experience and promoting mutual learning.

"We will host a global forum on youth development and take part in the launch of a global action plan on youth development, in a bid to pool as much strength as possible for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," said Xi.