Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (C) chairs a roundtable on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 19, 2016. (Photo: Xinhua/Li Tao)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's speech on emphasizing sustainable development as a fundamental way to solve various global issues has struck a chord worldwide.[Special coverage]
At a roundtable at United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday, Li fully elaborated China's plan for the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Analysts recognized China's role in maintaining peace and stability worldwide and praised its efforts to help other developing countries realize sustainable growth.
Rana Mitter, director of Oxford University's China Center, says China is increasingly becoming an important player in UN peacekeeping.
"China has begun to play a much more significant role in terms of sending its own soldiers abroad in Asia, Africa and elsewhere to be part of a wider UN effort to bring peace to areas where there is civil war or other sorts of destruction, and this I think is a very important part of the socialisation of China into the international community," he said.
R.K. Chaudhury, an Indian expert on diplomacy, agreed with Mitter, saying that China has been key in maintaining world peace.
"When world peace and security are threated, China's peacekeeping mission will be on the scene, which reflects that China honors its commitment to maintaining world peace and the UN Charter," he said.
"China is also known to be a peace-loving country and perceived by many as a non-aggressor, and precisely that is the reason why its military might is aimed at keeping the world peaceful," the professor elaborated.
The ultimate goal of China's modernization is for its roughly 1.3 billion people to lead well-off lives, Li said, adding that China has already put the agenda into its national development plans. It aims to eradicate poverty by 2020, ten years ahead of the UN's schedule.
Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow with S. Rajaratnam School at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said it would be amazing if China were to achieve the goals ahead of schedule, something that would provide a boost to global development.
Saleem Khilji, director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute based in Islamabad, said the premier's announcement on poverty alleviation ahead of schedule "showed China's determination, sincerity and passion to achieve its sustainable development goals."
"China has focused not only on its own population, but it has been helping other poor nations," the expert said.
At the sustainable development roundtable, Li said China, as a responsible developing country, has actively participated in global development and will continue to contribute to the South-South Cooperation.
The premier said the China-initiated assistance fund for South-South Cooperation and the China-UN Peace and Development Fund will formally start operations by the end of this year, adding that the China-proposed Academy of South-South Cooperation and Development has also enrolled its first batch of students.
In order to support a bigger UN role in the implementation of the Agenda, China has pledged additional 100 million U.S. dollars in annual aid to UN development agencies in 2020 on top of its amount in 2015, Li said.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said "China is an eminent player in global development, in particular, China is a leader in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda."
"China is also deepening South-South Cooperation to help other developing countries implement the 2030 Agenda, providing support and financing technology capacity building," he said.
Khilji spoke highly of China's contribution to South-South Cooperation, especially in Africa, which "is unique and exemplary in the world."
"The China-initiated assistance fund for South-South Cooperation and the China-UN Peace and Development Fund will further help in poverty alleviation and improve the security situation in the world," he said.
(Xinhua correspondents Ni Hongmei and Shi Xiaomeng in the United Nations, Bai Chun in New Delhi, Bao Xuelin in Singapore and Ji Wei in Islamabad also contributed to the story.)
