China will establish a $2 billion fund to support the implementation of post-2015 development agenda in developing countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Saturday.
China will increase its investment in least developed countries (LDCs) to $12 billion in 2030, Xi said at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit at the UN headquarters in New York.
In addition, China will exempt the debt of outstanding intergovernmental interest-free loans due by the end of 2015 owed by relevant LDCs, landlocked developing countries and small island developing countries, the president said.
As part of China’s plan to implement the post-2015 development agenda adopted by the UN summit, Xi also announced that China will establish an international development knowledge center to facilitate research and exchanges by countries on theories and practices of development suited to their respective national conditions, and will propose discussion on establishing a global energy network to facilitate efforts to meet the global power demand with clean and green alternatives.
Sharing his views on the post-2015 development agenda, Xi called for an equitable, open, all-round and innovation-driven development path, stressing that no country should be left behind.
According to Xi, China has actualized the goal set by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and lifted 439 million people out of poverty over the past 30 years since the country’s reform and opening-up, Xi said.
Over the past 60 years, China has provided 166 countries and international organizations with nearly 400 billion yuan ($63 billion) worth of assistance, and dispatched over 600,000 aid workers, over 700 of whom have laid down their lives in helping the development of other countries, he said.
China is “a leader” in advancing South-South cooperation, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday about China’s measures to support the UN’s development agenda.
Ban stated that China is an essential and indispensable partner of the UN and that the UN is looking forward to greater cooperation in promoting develop-related agendas, solving regional hotspot issues and negotiating new agreements on climate change. (Source: People’s Daily)