As a member of developing countries, China will take pragmatic steps to give continued support to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech at the High-level Dialogue on Global Development, which kicked off on Friday in virtual format in Beijing. 

China will allocate more resources for global development cooperation, he said. 

China will upgrade the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to a Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, and the country will also increase input to the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund, he noted. 

China will work with all sides to advance cooperation in priority areas and mobilize resources for development to deepen global cooperation on poverty reduction and eradication, build capacity for food production and supply, and promote clean energy partnerships, he said. 

Cooperation will also be made to step up innovation, research and development, and joint production of vaccines; work on the conservation and sustainable use of land and marine ecology; and raise digital literacy and skills of the public, transform and upgrade the path to industrialization at a faster pace, and enhance digital-era connectivity to inject new impetus into the development of all countries, he said in the speech.

Xi also said that China 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, to exchange governance experience and promote mutual learning. 

China 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, he said. 

(Cover photo: CFP)