On August 20, Ambassador Zhang Wenchuan published a signed article in the Belarusian state news agency entitled “Joining Hands on the Path of Development, Together Creating a Better Future,” introducing the practical achievements made in the five years since the Global Development Initiative (GDI) was proposed and looking ahead to the bright prospects of deepening China-Belarus cooperation to jointly promote global development. The full text is as follows:
In September 2021, President Xi Jinping solemnly put forward the Global Development Initiative (GDI) at the General Debate of the 76th United Nations General Assembly, calling on the international community to place development in a prominent position on the global macro-policy agenda, accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and promote stronger, greener and healthier global development. The Initiative upholds six principles — development first, a people-centered approach, benefits for all, innovation-driven development, harmony between man and nature, and results-oriented action — and focuses on eight priority areas of cooperation: poverty alleviation, food security, public health, financing for development, climate change and green development, industrialization, the digital economy, and connectivity. Its core message is to bring development back to the center of the international agenda, make development opportunities fairer and more accessible, and ensure that the fruits of development benefit every country, every group and every individual.
Over the past five years, with the joint support and participation of the international community, this major Initiative has expanded from a Chinese proposition into an international consensus, and turned from a fine vision into rich practice, injecting precious development momentum into a world of turbulence and transformation. To date, more than 130 countries and international organizations have provided support by taking part in cooperation under the Initiative, and nearly 100 countries and international and regional organizations have signed cooperation documents with China. The Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative has expanded to 88 countries, becoming an important force in advancing the global development cause. Driven by the China-UN Peace and Development Fund and the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, more than US$23 billion has been mobilized in total, over 1,800 “small yet beautiful” and “people-warming” cooperation projects have been implemented, and more than 200,000 personnel of various kinds have been trained. From juncao (fungal grass) that helps reduce poverty worldwide, to sustainable-development satellites that share data in sync, and to the “Mazu” platform that helps Global South countries improve meteorological early warning and disaster prevention and mitigation capacities, the achievements of the Initiative have brought tangible benefits to the people of more than 120 countries.
Belarus firmly supports the four global initiatives, including the GDI, and has written them into the Presidential Decree on Enriching the Belarus-China All-Weather Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Under the strategic guidance of the top leaders of China and Belarus, cooperation between the two countries in various fields has kept deepening, translating the concepts of the GDI into practical results in promoting bilateral pragmatic cooperation. Both countries take development as a primary task and the well-being of their peoples as the ultimate goal of development. As a landmark project of jointly building the Belt and Road, the China-Belarus “Great Stone” Industrial Park now hosts nearly 180 enterprises, covering machinery manufacturing, biomedicine, e-commerce and other fields, effectively driving industrial upgrading and employment and income growth. Bilateral trade has continued to grow, reaching US$5.27 billion in the first half of this year, a record high. The China-Belarus Industrial Cooperation Year projects are progressing in an orderly manner. The first China-Belarus Local Cooperation Forum was successfully held in Lanzhou this July, and the number of sister cities between the two countries has increased to 54 pairs. In addition, to implement the GDI, China has relied on the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund in support of the United Nations Development Programme to have successfully carried out in Belarus the “Belarus Forest Fire Prevention and Response” project and the project to build a medical center for residents affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The GDI has provided an important platform and strong impetus for deepening China-Belarus practical cooperation, delivering tangible benefits to the people of both countries.
The current international situation is intertwined with changes and disturbances; progress on the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is significantly behind schedule, and the North-South development gap keeps widening. On July 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at the High-Level Meeting marking the fifth anniversary of the GDI, called on all countries to continue holding high the banner of development, resolutely advance the alignment of the GDI with the UN development agenda, and jointly create a better future. He also put forward a four-point proposal: first, enhance solidarity and cooperation to foster a peaceful environment for development; second, combine our efforts to accelerate progress toward the SDGs; third, push ahead with openness and mutual learning to boost innovation as the engine for development; fourth, practice multilateralism for improving the global governance system.
China’s development cannot be separated from the world, and neither can the world’s development be separated from China. This year marks the first year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period, and China is providing new development opportunities to countries around the world through high-quality development and high-level opening up. Meanwhile, Belarus is steadily advancing its 2026–2030 National Economic and Social Development Plan. The development strategies of the two countries are highly aligned, their space for cooperation is broad, and their development potential is enormous. The starting point of the GDI’s fifth anniversary has seen China’s readiness to work with Belarus to continuously enrich the cooperation under the GDI, actively advance the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, jointly safeguard the common interests of the Global South, and make new and greater contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind!