GDI Emerges as a Platform for Shared Global Development, Launches 1,800 Livelihood Projects in Five Years

Dragon Media News Desk

The Global Development Initiative (GDI), proposed by China, has evolved over the past five years from a policy concept into a practical framework for international cooperation. Focused on strengthening the capacity of developing countries, reducing poverty, improving food security, advancing green transformation, expanding digital access and enhancing disaster management, the initiative has implemented 1,800 livelihood-oriented projects.

A high-level meeting titled “The Global Development Initiative at Five Years: Joining Hands for a Brighter Future of Sustainable Development” was held in Beijing on July 28 to review the progress of the GDI and identify priorities for future international development cooperation.

Senior United Nations officials, diplomatic representatives from members of the Group of Friends of the GDI, representatives of UN development agencies, and Chinese and international experts attended the meeting.

Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and China’s foreign minister, said President Xi Jinping proposed the GDI five years ago at a time when global development was losing momentum.

According to Wang, the initiative has contributed to returning development to the centre of the international political and economic agenda while coordinating its implementation with the United Nations development framework.

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported that more than 130 countries and international organisations have supported the GDI and participated in its cooperation programmes.

Under the initiative, 200,000 people have received training in various professional fields, while more than 23 billion US dollars in financial resources has been mobilised.

China has also shared its Juncao technology with developing countries. The technology uses grass as a substrate to grow edible and medicinal mushrooms, helping support poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods.

The Sustainable Development Science Satellite-1 has provided environmental and development data, while the Mazu platform has helped Global South countries strengthen their capacity for disaster monitoring, early warning and risk reduction.

Over the past five years, China has established more than 30 cooperation mechanisms and platforms to support the independent development capacity of Global South countries.

Xinhua said open-source large language models, affordable clean-energy technologies, production equipment and infrastructure cooperation have helped expand access to the benefits of technological progress and industrialisation.

At the high-level meeting, Wang presented four major priorities for the next stage of GDI implementation.

He called for stronger solidarity and cooperation to create a peaceful environment for development, faster implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda, greater innovation and open mutual learning, and improved global governance based on multilateralism.

Wang said China would provide additional development resources to other developing countries, help reduce development imbalances and support the Global South in taking advantage of new technologies and economic opportunities.

China maintains that the shared needs of developing countries should be fully reflected in the global development agenda beyond 2030.

Implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains behind schedule.

According to Xinhua, only 36 percent of assessable Sustainable Development Goals are on track or showing moderate progress. Nearly half are advancing too slowly, while 15 percent have moved in the wrong direction.

At a time when protectionism, unilateral trade barriers and geopolitical confrontation are placing additional pressure on developing countries, the GDI presents development not as an instrument of competition but as a shared right and a foundation for cooperation, Xinhua stated.

Wang said China’s development is closely connected with the world and that global development is equally linked with China.

He reaffirmed that, regardless of changes in the international environment, China would continue to act as a promoter and contributor to global development.

Wang also said China would continue sharing its development opportunities with other countries and advancing the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.