Distinguished Guests,  

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

大家下午好，欢迎来到第四届中国国际发展论坛。

Good afternoon and welcome to the 4^th China and International Development Forum. 

With 2024 just around the corner, the world’s deadline to realize the Sustainable Development Goals – our global blueprint to safeguard people and planet by 2030 – grows ever nearer. Unfortunately, our prospects towards achieving the SDGs are in dire straits. 

Just 15% of SDG targets are on track, and progress on over 30% of targets has stalled or even regressed.^[1]

Following 3 years of parallel shocks and crises including the pandemic and wars and conflicts, most developing countries are faced with increasingly constrained fiscal space and spiraling debt. The combined impact of these challenges has set back global development progress by decades. 

Furthermore, the climate emergency continues to worsen – threatening humanity’s very existence. 2023 is set to be the warmest year on record.

No single country or actor can tackle these challenges alone. Indeed, the recently concluded COP28 climate summit demonstrated the importance of multilateralism with the global community reaffirming its commitment to keep warming within 1.5 degrees, and agreeing – for the first time – to transition away from fossil fuels.

But more must be done, and must be done fast. Only through collective efforts, and by continuing to raise our ambition levels, can we hope to set the world back on a trajectory towards a sustainable future.^[2] 

That is why the theme of this year’s forum – Global Development Partnerships to Accelerate the 2030 Agenda – is so important.

Strengthened international development cooperation is essential to drive forward global progress on the SDGs, and maximize effectiveness in light of scarce resources and ever-growing demands.

In particular, through vehicles such as South-South Cooperation, stakeholders like China – now among the top providers of development finance, can make important contributions to sustainable development globally. 

By promoting two-way knowledge exchanges and demand based cooperation that draws on international best practices and norms, China has the opportunity to help advance sustainable development results in partner countries in areas such as the green energy transformation and green finance, building on its strength and experience.    

Other actors – beyond governments, are also critical.