Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Ma Zhaoxu addresses the ministerial meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, at the UN headquarters in New York, July 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
UNITED NATIONS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said Thursday that the international community should remain committed to equitable, open, comprehensive and innovative development.
The world should "put development high on the global agenda," with a focus on helping the developing countries break through development bottlenecks in an effort to rigorously implement the 2030 Agenda, Chinese ambassador to the UN Ma Zhaoxu said at the ministerial meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
"We must strive for equitable development to make development opportunities more equal, pursue open development that benefits all, strive for comprehensive development and solidify the basis of development and promote innovative development to unlock development potential," he said.
Referring to unilateralism and protectionism, he said that they "have threatened global economic growth, causing widespread concern and rejection around the world."
"China opposes unilateralism and trade protectionism and advocates rational handling of differences and problems in trade relations. China is willing to work with all parties to safeguard free trade and the multilateral trading system and resolutely defend the common interests of all countries," he added.
Talking about China's contributions to the world, the ambassador said that since 2002, China's average contribution to world economic growth has approached 30 percent, and China's huge consumption and investment space have created more jobs for the world.
The "Belt and Road Initiative" has created a broad prospect for win-win cooperation between China and the world, he noted.
In the past five years, China's trade with countries along the route has exceeded 5 trillion U.S. dollars, its accumulative investment over 70 billion dollars, creating more than 200,000 jobs for local communities. In the next 15 years, China is expected to import 24 trillion U.S.-dollar-worth of goods and absorb 2 trillion dollars in foreign investments. Its outbound investment will reach 2 trillion dollars, he said.
"We are willing to work with all parties to build an open world economy, maintain the multilateral trading system and rules, and steer globalization towards greater openness, inclusiveness, universal benefits, balance and win-win results," said the ambassador.
