Watch video of panel where the VNR was presented

 

 

Main Message

Over the past five years, under the strong leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has put people’s well-being front and center, followed a new vision of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and taken comprehensive measures to implement the 2030 Agenda according to its national implementation plan that was among the first of the kind in the world, and through an inter-ministerial coordination mechanism made up of 45 ministries and agencies, integrating its implementation efforts with the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan and other medium-to-long-term development strategies. China has also actively participated in international development cooperation to promote global implementation endeavors. All these efforts have yielded remarkable results.

China has eradicated extreme poverty, and ensured food security. At the end of 2020, China won its fight against poverty as scheduled, ending poverty for the 98.99 million rural residents living below the current poverty line, and meeting the targets of SDG 1 ten years ahead of schedule. Building on these achievements, China is prioritizing the development of agriculture and rural areas, and implementing the rural revitalization strategy in a comprehensive manner. In 2020, China reaped bumper harvest in grain production for the 17th year in a row. The “rice bowl” of the Chinese people is tightly held in the hands of the Chinese themselves. 

China has actively taken climate actions, and contributed to global green development. Following the philosophy that lucid water and lush mountain are invaluable assets, China has accelerated the transition towards green development. China has won the three critical battles to keep its sky blue, water clear, and soil pollution-free and made remarkable headway in holistic protection and treatment of its mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grassland and deserts. China has firmly implemented the Paris Agreement and actively participated in global climate governance. Carbon intensity in China has accumulatively dropped by 18.8%. Clean energy now accounts for 23.4% of China’s energy mix. China leads the world in installed capacity and output of photovoltaic and wind power generation. China has scaled up its nationally determined contributions and aims to peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, injecting strong impetus into global climate actions as well as green and low-carbon development worldwide. 

China has met the challenge of the pandemic with success and improved public health governance. Putting people and their lives above everything else, China has scored major strategic achievements in fighting COVID-19 and protected people’s rights to life and health. China has increased investment in public health infrastructure and woven the world’s largest social safety net with basic medical insurance covering more than 1.3 billion people.With upgraded public health services, Chinese people’s sense of fulfillment, happiness and security is steadily increased.

China has registered steady economic growth and enhanced development resilience. China’s GDP has increased from less than 70 trillion yuan to over 100 trillion yuan. Steady progress has been made in infrastructure connectivity and sustainable transportation. Pandemic control goes hand in hand with economic and social development. A new development paradigm is forming with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. In 2020, China’s GDP grew by 2.3%, making China the only major world economy to grow.

China has shouldered its responsibilities as a major country and advanced international development cooperation. China champions mankind’s common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, and strives to build a community of shared future for mankind. It has stepped up efforts to promote synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the 2030 Agenda, promoted the green BRI, deepened South-South cooperation, and helped other developing countries implement the 2030 Agenda to the best of its capability. China has provided assistance to more than 160 countries and international organizations in combating COVID-19, and donated and exported pandemic response supplies to over 200 countries and regions. China has joined the COVAX, provided or is providing vaccine assistance to more than 80 developing countries most in need, and exported vaccines to more than 40 countries, making its due contribution to the global fight against the pandemic.

China’s remarkable achievements in implementing the 2030 Agenda are attributable to the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, to the advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics, to China’s comprehensive drive to deepen reforms and expand opening-up, and to the joint efforts of the people of all ethnic groups in China.

Likewise, the global implementation of the 2030 Agenda calls for strong political leadership, effective institutional guarantees, scientific and technological innovation, extensive social mobilization and pragmatic global partnership. The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the global implementation of the 2030 Agenda. China stands ready to work with other countries to consolidate political will, put development first, strengthen the means of implementation, take joint actions and address special difficulties of developing countries to leave no one and no country behind.

 

In September 2015, H.E. Xi Jinping, President of China, attended the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit and joined other leaders in endorsing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing guidance to national development of member states and international development cooperation in the next 15 years.

As the largest developing countries in the world, China has always place development as the first priority. The 13th Five-Year Plan was reviewed and approved by the Fourth Session of the 12th National People’s Congress in March 2016, defining the development concept featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development. In the coming years, China will pursue innovative development and improve the quality and efficiency of development. Coordinated development will be promoted to form a balanced structure of development. China will pursue green development by promoting a green and low-carbon development model and lifestyle, protecting ecological system. It will make great efforts to deepen opening-up, thus realizing win-win cooperation. Shared development will be facilitated to improve people’s well being. China will seek coordinated development in the economic, political, cultural, social and ecological fields in order to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects as planned.

China attaches great importance to implementation of the 2030 Agenda and believes that the principles of Peaceful Development, Win-win Cooperation, Integration and Coordination, Inclusiveness and Openness, Sovereignty and Voluntary Action, as well as “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities”, should be followed in building a new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation, establishing all-round partnership, and achieving economic, social and environmental development in a balanced manner. Countries should be encouraged to formulate their domestic development strategies and take measures to implement the 2030 Agenda in accordance with national conditions and respective characteristics, while the means of implementation should be allowed to be differentiated, due to diversified national conditions and respective capabilities.

China suggests that 9 key areas should be prioritized in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. These areas are:

• Eradicating poverty and hunger through targeted measures to alleviate and eliminate poverty, and enhancing agricultural production capacities and food security.
• Implementing innovation-driven development strategies and generating momentum for sustainable, healthy and stable economic growth.
• Advancing industrialization to inject impetus to coordinated development between urban and rural areas and among the three dimensions of sustainable development.
• Improving social security and social services to ensure equal access to basic public services.
• Safeguarding equity and social justice to improve people’s well-being and promoting all-round human development.
• Protecting the environment and building protective barriers for eco-security.
• Addressing climate change actively and integrating climate change response into national development strategies.
• Promoting efficient utilization of resources and sustainable energy.
• Improving national governance and ensuring economic and social development in line with the rule of law.

Implementing the 2030 Agenda is a systemic project. The international community needs to provide sound support from five dimensions including:

• Strengthening capacity building of countries so as to improve institution building, increase public resources, and generate internal growth momentum.
• Creating an enabling international environment for development, building a balanced, win-win and inclusive multilateral trading system and improving global economic governance.
• Engaging with all stakeholders and working towards a more equitable and balanced global partnership for development.
• Promoting coordination mechanism and incorporating development policy into global macroeconomic policy coordination.
• Improving follow-up and review by conducting regular reviews of global implementation progress while review of national implementation would be done according to respective national conditions and the principle of voluntary action.

2016 is the first year of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China has made great efforts in its implementation, linking the 2030 Agenda with domestic mid-and-long term development strategies. The domestic coordination mechanism for the implementation, comprised of 43 government departments, has been established to guarantee the implementation. Great efforts has been be made to publicize the 2030 Agenda nationwide in order to mobilize domestic resources, raise public awareness, and creating favorable social environment for the implementation. China will also strengthen inter-sector policy coordination, review and revise relevant laws and regulations to provide policy and legislative guarantee for the implementation. In the next 5 years, China is determined to lift all the 55.75 million rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty, and to double its GDP and people's per capita income of 2010. China has already released the Position Paper on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which reflects China’s views on the principles, priorities, policies and progress made in the implementation of the 2030 agenda. The position paper has been circulated as an UN General Assembly document to member states in April. China will also issue its national plan of implementing the 2030 Agenda this year and share its development experience with other countries.

As the G20 Presidency this year, China puts development issues at the heart of the G20 agenda, and lists Inclusive and Interconnected Development as one of the four key agenda items. With China’s efforts, G20 has placed the issue of development in a prominent position in its global macro policy framework for the first time, to optimize development policy coordination. It is the first time that G20 members has jointly drafted a collective action plan on the 2030 Agenda to inject political impetus into the global implementation progress on the 2030 Agenda. And it is also the first time that G20 has discussed the issues of Supporting Industrialization in Africa and Least Developed Countries to actively respond to demands of developing countries, especially African countries. China has also convened outreach dialogues with non-G20 countries and invited the largest numbers of development countries in G20 history to participate in all activities this year, to ensure that G20’s actions meet outside expectations.

As a responsible and large developing country, China will continue to actively take part in global development cooperation. It has provided support for more than 120 developing countries in achieving MDGs. In the future, China will deepen South-South cooperation to help other developing countries to implement the 2030 Agenda. China is currently implementing the measures announced by President Xi Jinping during his attendance at UN Summits Marking the 70th Anniversary, providing other developing countries with support in financing, technology and capacity building. China is making preparations for the Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation, which will be put into operation as soon as possible. The Academy of South-South Cooperation and Development has been established and starts global enrollment in 2016, which will provide developing countries with opportunities for doctor’s degree and master’s degree education and short-term training. China has signed agreements on China-UN Peace and Development Fund with the UN and the fund will be put into operation in 2016 to finance projects concerning peace and development. China will carry forward the Belt and Road Initiative and promote the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank and other institutions to play greater roles with a view to making contribution to global development.

Looking ahead, China will shoulder the responsibility of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, follow a development path featuring mutual benefit, win-win results and common development, and work with all countries to build a better future of sustainable development for all mankind.