Wang Yi: What the Asia-Pacific needs is development, not turbulence

What the Asia-Pacific needs is development, not turbulence, and the emphasis should be on cooperation, not division, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.

Wang made the remarks during a meeting with Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, executive secretary of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Beijing.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that ESCAP is the most important regional cooperation mechanism of the UN in the Asia-Pacific region and has had fruitful cooperation with China over the years.

He said China is ready to strengthen solidarity and coordination with ESCAP, jointly uphold genuine multilateralism, advance high-quality cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), deepen regional economic integration, and enhance the synergy between the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and ESCAP's implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

China is ready to advance cooperation with ESCAP in such areas as digitalization, intelligentization and green transformation, support inclusive and balanced development in the Asia-Pacific region, inject new impetus and enrich new content into Asia-Pacific cooperation, and make greater contributions to the building of an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future, Wang said.

Alisjahbana expressed great appreciation for China's contribution to promoting economic integration and regional connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

She said ESCAP is willing to further deepen cooperation with China to jointly promote the BRI, the GDI and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and promote development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

(With input from Xinhua)