President Xi stresses joint efforts to tackle global threats, challenges

Urges world to follow the path of peace, dialogue; calls for steps to overcome Covid, revive the economy

UNITED NATIONS:

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed upon the world to follow the path of peace, development and advancement and jointly address global threats and challenges, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Xi addressed the 76th session of the UNGA from Beijing via video link and delivered his speech titled "Bolstering confidence and jointly overcoming difficulties to build a better world", on September 21, 2021.

Observing that the world is once again at a historical crossroads, Xi termed peace, development and advancement for humanity as irresistible.

He called for bolstering the confidence of the people, jointly addressing global threats and challenges, and working together to build a community with a shared future for mankind and a better world for all.

Global peace, harmony

"We must strengthen solidarity and promote mutual respect and win-win cooperation in conducting international relations," he remarked.

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Xi observed that military intervention from the outside and so-called democratic transformation entail nothing but harm.

"We need to advocate peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, which are the common values of humanity, and reject the practice of forming small circles or zero-sum games," he maintained.

He also called for realising the need to pursue dialogue and inclusiveness over confrontation and exclusion. "China has never and will never invade or bully others, or seek hegemony," Xi added.

He stressed following the "basic norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter".

Tackling Covid-19

Xi observed that the world was facing the combined impacts of changes unseen in a century and the Covid-19 pandemic.

He emphasised that people across the world were longing for peace and development more than ever before. "Their call for equity and justice is growing stronger, and they are more determined in pursuing win-win cooperation," he remarked.

The Chinese president called upon the world to take measures to win the crucial fight against Covid-19. He termed it a pressing priority to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of vaccines globally.

Xi also announced that Beijing will strive to provide a total of two billion doses of vaccines to the world by the end of this year.

"In addition to donating 100 million US dollars to COVAX, China will donate 100 million doses of vaccines to other developing countries in the course of this year," he added.

Though Xi expressed the country's willingness to support and engage in global science-based origins tracing, he made it clear that the country stood firmly opposed to political manoeuvring in all its forms.

Reviving global economy

Xi stressed revitalising the economy and pursuing a more robust, greener and more balanced global development. The Chinese premier urged the world to put in joint efforts to "steer global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth."

The Chinese president urged to put "development high on the global macro policy agenda, strengthen policy coordination among major economies, and ensure policy continuity, consistency and sustainability".

Xi further urged more equal and balanced global development partnerships aimed at forging greater synergy among multilateral development cooperation processes, and to speed up implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

According to President Xi, a people-centred approach was vital to safeguarding and improving people's livelihoods and protect and promote human rights through development.

"We should continue our work so that the people will have a greater sense of

happiness, benefit and security, and achieve well-rounded development," he maintained.

He also asked for caring for the special needs of developing countries and employing means such as debt suspension and development aid to help them.

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Xi particularly emphasised addressing unbalanced and inadequate development among and within countries.

Technological solutions

In terms of innovation-driven development, he called for seizing the historic opportunities created by the latest round of technological revolution and industrial transformation.

The Chinese leader stressed the need to "redouble efforts to harness technological achievements to boost productivity, and foster an open, fair, equitable and non-discriminatory environment for the development of science and technology."

"We should foster new growth drivers in the post-Covid era and jointly achieve leapfrog development," he remarked.

Climate change

President Xi also urged improving global environmental governance by actively responding to climate change.

"We need to accelerate the transition to a green and low-carbon economy and achieve green recovery and development," he added.

He assured that China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.

Concluding, the Chinese president stressed priority basis cooperation on poverty alleviation, food security, Covid-19 response and vaccines, development financing, climate change and green development, industrialisation, digital economy and connectivity, among other areas, so as to build a global community of development with a shared future.