Chinese vice premier calls for strengthening South-South cooperation

World
Europe

Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua on Wednesday called for expanding areas of the South-South cooperation with more innovative modes when addressing the opening session of the Second High-level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation scheduled through Friday.

Hu has been invited to visit Argentina, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic from March 18 to 27.

Hu emphasized in the speech that China firmly supports multilateralism and the multilateral mechanism with the UN as its core, and resolutely safeguards the basic principles of respect for sovereignty, equality and mutual benefit, and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.

He said he hopes that this meeting will reach a consensus and provide a solid foundation for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

While meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri Wednesday, Hu said China and Argentina will strengthen bilateral ties and deepen cooperation in a wide range of areas.

Hu conveyed President Xi Jinping's warm greetings and good wishes to Macri. Hu said President Xi attaches great importance to the development of China-Argentina relations.

Hu pointed out that China appreciates Argentina's support for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and welcomed the active participation of Argentina to the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing in late April.

He said that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with developing countries and attaches importance to the dialogue and cooperation with the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).

For his part, Macri said he attaches great importance to the friendship and mutual trust with President Xi.

Macri said Argentina is willing to jointly further strengthen bilateral ties, and supports the BRI and hopes that more Chinese companies will increase their investment in Argentina in areas such as agriculture.

He also said Argentina will further promote dialogue and cooperation between Mercosur and China as well as deepen South-South cooperation.

(With input from Xinhua)

19300km