Xinhua Commentary: Five years on, GDI drives shared and sustainable development worldwide

BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- While a handful of powers are still busy suppressing the development of others through protectionism and geopolitical confrontation, China has been steadfastly pushing forward shared development through advancing the Global Development Initiative (GDI).

Five years on, this initiative has evolved from a Chinese proposal into a major global public good, drawing wide participation from the international community and delivering practical benefits to ordinary people worldwide.

To date, over 130 countries and international organizations have endorsed the GDI and participated in relevant cooperation programs, resulting in the implementation of 1,800 livelihood-oriented projects and the training of 200,000 people in different professions, involving over 23 billion U.S. dollars of mobilized funds.

These include China's sharing of Juncao technology, which uses grass to cultivate edible fungi and help alleviate poverty, the Sustainable Development Science Satellite 1 that enables synchronized data sharing, and the MAZU platform, a disaster monitoring and early-warning system to help countries in the Global South improve disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities.

The GDI advocates people-centered, inclusive, innovation-driven and eco-friendly development principles and promotes results-oriented actions. The initiative has served as a beacon of hope for common development and building a more beautiful world for all humanity.

As time goes by, the significance of this initiative is being felt by more and more countries in the world, especially Global South countries that aspire to catch up in development.

The principles of the GDI, which advocates inclusive and sustainable development, partnership, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, are much different from ideologies that push geopolitical rivalry and seek unilateral gains.

Over the years, China has launched more than 30 cooperation mechanisms and platforms to support Global South countries in enhancing their development capability. As a result, there has been a notable increase in positive feelings toward China worldwide.

According to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center, more people have a favorable view of China than of the United States in most of the 36 countries surveyed. People in many of the 17 middle-income countries surveyed see China as a more reliable partner than the United States and are more likely to say that China contributes to peace and stability around the world.

As its economy maintains high-quality growth driven by innovation and greater openness, China continues to share significant opportunities for global development.

Its innovations, such as open-source large language models, make new technologies affordable and drive shared development. Its cost-effective new energy products enrich global supply and promote green and low-carbon development.

Chinese manufacturing equipment exports and outbound investment help advance industrialization in developing countries, while cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative improves infrastructure in many partner countries and expands their potential for development.

The implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been behind schedule. With less than five years left for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), only 36 percent of assessable SDG targets are on target or making moderate progress, nearly half are moving too slowly, while 15 percent have even gone into reverse.

The urgent need for common development among humanity underscores the pressing relevance of the GDI. As a member of the Global South and a major country, China has promised to align its growth with the common good of the world, and steadily advance the implementation of the GDI together with other countries for new progress in shared and sustainable development. ■