Copy Reference This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN) as well as the 7th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The UN has remained committed to global sustainable development, while the BRI, the world’s largest economic cooperation initiative and the staunchest supporter of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, has stayed aimed at sustainable development.
This year, the global spread of COVID-19 seriously constrained sustainable development around the world and blocked progress on the BRI. A new journey was launched when the UN General Assembly organized a high-level meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the UN on September 21 and adopted a declaration reaffirming the organization’s commitment to “implementing the 2030 Agenda in full and on time.”
New Journey of Sustainable Development in the Post-COVID Era
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the UN high-level meeting on September 21.
“Major changes unseen in a century are taking place in our world,” he said. “The sudden attack of COVID-19 has been a grave test for the entire world. Mankind has entered a new era of interconnectedness.” Against this background, “How should the UN play its role?” he asked.
One suggestion he made was for the UN “to focus on real action.” As the UN advances its 2030 Agenda, priority should be placed on addressing non-traditional security challenges such as public health, and the issue of development should be highlighted in the global macro framework. The organization needs greater focus on promotion and protection of rights to subsistence and development.
From the perspective of the BRI, in its first seven years before the outbreak of COVID-19, construction of the Belt and Road for interconnectivity shaped a basic framework for regional and global sustainable development. Outbreak of the pandemic blocked much of Belt and Road interconnectivity and the process of sustainable development. This March, construction of the Belt and Road resumed, fostering high-quality development alongside the construction of a Silk Road of Health. Major progress has been made in the last six months.
China and ASEAN have established “fast tracks” to facilitate exchange of essential personnel, accelerated resumption of work and production, and reached important consensus on strengthening connectivity, maintaining momentum of Belt and Road cooperation, and stabilizing the industrial chain, so as to accelerate regional economic recovery. Despite great uncertainty in the global market, ASEAN has overtaken the EU to become China’s largest trading partner, which evidences the great potential for pragmatic cooperation. China is also engaging in public health and medical care cooperation and assistance in the countries along the Belt and Road through a series of important measures. For example, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi suggested China and ASEAN establish a “China-ASEAN vaccine friends” program and enhance information exchange and cooperation in the development, production, and usage of vaccines.
BRI Driving Sustainable Development in China and the World
As an engine of global economic recovery, the Chinese economy should continue to maintain momentum. Under the impact of the pandemic, China’s economic situation has attracted attention from the international community because a sound Chinese economy kindles hope for the global economy. Generally speaking, the Chinese economy has passed the test of the pandemic with a positive GDP growth of 3.2 percent in the second quarter of the year.
To boost confidence in global economic recovery, Premier Li Keqiang attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Virtual Dialogue with Global Business Leaders on September 15. He stressed that China has the back-up methods to deal with worse-case scenarios in the world economy. Such words testify to China’s economic resilience and development potential, which should boost the confidence of the international community in the Chinese economy in the post-pandemic era and inject positive energy into the world economy after it was hit so hard by the pandemic.
It has been China’s policy to protect market entities, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, to keep the fundamentals of the economy stable. Under the impact of the pandemic, China is taking measures to support enterprises so as to maintain employment and economic stability. The key to protecting market entities is to help them overcome current difficulties. Large-scale enterprises in China and the world are playing an important part in innovating new avenues for the development of the world economy. Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises can coexist and prosper together alongside large companies to make the market fairer and more effective. The BRI is an economic cooperation initiative. The effective protection of enterprises of different sizes will preserve the potential of sustainable development along the Belt and Road.
Meanwhile, China’s determination to promote opening-up will not change. The pandemic caused a deep recession in the world economy and a rise in protectionism and unilateralism. Capital markets, trade, industrial chains, and transnational investment are all facing tremendous challenges. In this context, China is expanding its opening-up with construction of the Belt and Road while introducing measures to cope with the negative impact of the pandemic and continuously improving the business environment for foreign investment. China’s continued opening-up is expected to provide more opportunities and create more dividends for the international community. China’s investment environment will also continue improving and become increasingly attractive to investors from all over the world. The Chinese market will provide opportunities for world economic development for a long time.
Importance of Multilateralism for Sustainable Development
President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of multilateralism in both COVID-19 response and economic recovery as well as the urgent need for increased international cooperation and solidarity. The main principles of multilateralism are consensus building and equality among all countries, big and small. The Cold War mentality and zero-sum games must be rejected. Instead, the world should champion a new vision of win-win outcomes for all. The direction of global economic integration has not changed, and China has continued supporting complementary development through global and regional integration.
In terms of its relations with the U.S., China opposes the so-called “decoupling.” The two countries should manage their differences and disagreements through dialogue. Both sides should advocate peace, development, and cooperation, and people around the world should be left to judge whether cooperation should continue. The industrial and commercial communities of the two sides can play a positive role in preventing vicious competition between them along the Belt and Road.
For China-Europe relations, the common ground outweighs differences. The two sides should expand two-way opening-up, carry out reciprocal cooperation, strengthen third-party cooperation, and promote integration of Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Cooperation between China and ASEAN has ascended to new heights against all odds. The region is evolving towards a community of shared future with every party having a stake in the others. It will continue to serve as the core area of Belt and Road construction in the post-COVID era.
Loaded with face masks and melt-blown nonwoven fabrics, a China-Europe Railway Express cargo train departs from Xi’an for Milan, Italy, on August 12, 2020. (YUAN JINGZHI)
About the author Zhai Kun is a professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University.