Interview: China's knowledge in development worth sharing with world

UNITED NATIONS, April 6 (Xinhua) -- China's knowledge in promoting its modernization, global development cooperation and energy transition is worth sharing with the world, a senior United Nations official has said.

TREMENDOUS PROGRESS

Over the past decades, China has demonstrated tremendous progress in poverty eradication, as well as industrialization and in deploying technology, Navid Hanif, UN assistant secretary-general in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

China has a lot to offer because the country, of such a size, has accomplished poverty eradication in the span of a few decades, which is commendable, he said.

China's path to modernization has worked for China very well, and it can be adapted by other countries depending on their own national conditions and specific priorities, needs and demands, said Hanif.

Development only works when it is homespun, he said, adding that it has to be owned by the countries' people and connected to their specific resources.

Noting that knowledge is not "one-way street," Hanif underscored the need for countries to learn from each other.

"I think China has knowledge, expertise and experience to demonstrate to the world and share and let them choose what is really close to their own national priorities and can be adapted to their context," he said.

PROPONENT OF SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

As a proponent of South-South cooperation, China also has knowledge to share on promoting global development cooperation, said Hanif.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China also put forward the Global Development Initiative in 2021.

"We acknowledge all initiatives that promote development cooperation and help countries to advance their national objectives, especially among South-South partners. BRI is one of those initiative," Hanif said.

Data on the impact of BRI in its 10 year's work should be shared to demonstrate results including in infrastructure investment and transport investment, so that countries better understand the achievements, he said, acknowledging that the initiative also has emphasis on sustainable development goals.

It's time to widely share a decade of BRI's knowledge, results and its impact in terms of sustainable development goals, greening transport and greening infrastructure for better understanding of the impact, said Hanif.

The Global Development Initiative, still developing and unfolding, is "well-intended to show China's commitment to global development," he said.

ENERGY TRANSITION LEADER

The United Nations on Wednesday released the 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report, which showed that energy transition investments surpassed fossil fuel system investments for the first time in 2022, almost all in China and developed countries.

Calling China a leader in energy transition, Hanif said China can play the role to help countries undergo energy transitions both in terms of the technologies they need and what they can learn from China, such as how to go through these transitions with minimum social disruptions.

"These are the things which China can offer to the world through South-South cooperation," he said.

In the development of solar cell industry, China has also demonstrated that it can pioneer in effectively deploying technology which can be used widely to reduce carbon emissions, Hanif added.

On development financing, China has managed to innovate on public-private sector partnerships, and the knowledge should also be widely shared, he said.