On behalf of the Permanent Mission of China in Vienna, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you to this seminar on “Accelerating 2030 SDGs through Jointly Global Development Efforts”. 

Two years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI) at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, with the aim of promoting stronger, greener and healthier global development and accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the past two years, with the concerted efforts of all parties, the GDI cooperation has achieved important progress of early harvest, and its influence and appeal have continued to increase, benefiting many developing countries. To date, more than 100 countries and international organizations have voiced their support for the Initiative. More than 70 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI.

As one of the headquarters of the United Nations, Vienna is a strategic center of multilateral diplomacy. The development agenda here is vital to the achievement of the SDGs, with its special advantages to promote and implement the GDI. Among the major international organizations in Vienna, the UNDIO has set three major priorities for action, namely ending hunger, limiting climate breakdown and supporting sustainable supply chains. The IAEA's statutory slogan is atoms for peace and development. The work of UNOV/UNODC and UNOOSA is also directly related to development in related areas. All of the above are closely linked to the Sustainable Development Agenda and the GDI. The Vienna spirit of coordinating for consensus can strongly underpin GDI’s core concept of win-win and shared benefits. Vienna, like other multilateral hubs, has witnessed international turbulence. Nonetheless, development should still be the constant sunshine over the multilateral platform of Vienna that shines lastingly and benefits the developing countries.

This seminar is the first event of the Group of Friends of the GDI in Vienna. We welcome the discussions today on how to coordinate and promote the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goals of the GDI, and to share the experiences of the GDI projects, so as to help the developing countries to develop better, faster and in a more comprehensive manner. Meanwhile, we hope that everyone could propose golden ideas and action plans to promote the implementation of the GDI based on the mandates of the Vienna-based international organizations and the development needs of various countries, and jointly refine the measures to promote deeper and more substantive cooperation on the GDI in Vienna.

The GDI has clear focus areas, clear objectives and good operationalization. GDI promotes shared benefits and win-win for all countries with inclusiveness, and forms a diversified new model of development cooperation that has received broad and positive responses from a wide range of developing countries. In order to promote the implementation of the GDI and provide development resources for developing countries to implement the 2030 Agenda, China has upgraded the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, increased the total resources by $1 billion on top of the original $3 billion, and established the global development project pool, out of which nearly 100 projects is now under implementation. China will further increase its input in the China-UN Peace and Development Fund to support cooperation under GDI.

GDI cannot be separated from the support of international development organizations. Vienna-based organizations such as UNIDO and IAEA have accumulated rich experiences in promoting sustainable development and are now implementing a large number of projects successfully. The GDI is a platform for equality, shared benefits and win-win cooperation, which is open and inclusive, and welcomes all like-minded countries and stakeholders committed to global partnership, pooling the resources of all parties to jointly promote cooperation in relevant areas. 

During the recent APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that sustainable development is the golden key to solving current global challenges, and that China is willing to work with all parties to foster a global community of development with a shared future. At the next stages, China will focus on eight priority areas, namely poverty reduction, food security, pandemic response, financing for development, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy, and connectivity in the digital age, as entry points, and to promote  concrete and substantive implementation of GDI.

Through the seminar today, we have shared useful experiences and exchanged views, creating enabling conditions for further consensus-building, cooperation and development. We will explore further opportunities to promote such exchanges and communication, and facilitate the implementation of GDI through the platform of the Vienna Group of Friends of the GDI.   

As the Chinese saying goes, "the fire burns high when everyone brings wood to it". The Group of Friends of the GDI is a platform for openness, inclusiveness, equality, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation. China is willing to make full use of this platform with all parties to strengthen the cooperation and exchanges, provide more advice, make more contributions and play important roles for the initiative, enhance the linkage between national development strategies and GDI, facilitate international cooperation, and jointly promote the resolution of development challenges. We welcome all countries to deepen cooperation on GDI, foster the consensus for cooperation, form synergies for development and join hands for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. I am confident that, with the joint efforts of the international community, we will be able to bridge the development gaps, break through the global development bottleneck, revitalize the cause of global development and light the torch of hope for building a better world!

Thank you all.