UK lawmakers applaud Xi's UN announcements

British lawmakers have lauded the initiatives Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the UN, saying they show China's determination to contribute to global causes.

Commenting on Xi's "Six 100s" initiative and an aid program for the UN, Richard Graham, a member of the UK Parliament, told Xinhua: "And so China strides onto the world stage ... This is her new way of projecting influence and contributing to global causes."

The "Six 100s" initiative, declared at a South-South cooperation roundtable hosted by Xi, covers poverty reduction, agriculture, trade, environment, health and education.

Xi said that in the next five years China will offer developing countries 100 poverty reduction programs, 100 agricultural cooperation projects, 100 trade promotion programs, 100 environmental protection and climate change programs, 100 hospitals and clinics, as well as 100 schools and vocational training centers.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Xi said China will establish a $1 billion China-UN peace and development fund to support the UN's work, advance multilateral cooperation and contribute more to world peace and development.

Xi's initiatives also won praise from David Alton, a member of the House of Lords. "The announcements made at the UN by President Xi are very positive developments, and are to be greatly welcomed," Alton said.

Some of Xi's announcements took media commentators by surprise, particularly China's decision to establish a standby peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops, and also provide $100 million of free military aid for the African Union in the next five years to support the founding of the African Standby Force and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis.

"With close to 800 million people still living in extreme poverty, nearly 6 million children dying before the age of 5, and 60 million unable to attend school, the new development agenda must be turned into action," Xi said at the general debate of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly on Monday.

"Let us establish a new win-win partnership for all mankind. Let prosperity, fairness and justice spread across the world," he said.

Graham is chairman of Britain's All-Party Parliamentary China Group.

"China has undergone immense change. When I first arrived in Hong Kong in 1980, China didn't impinge much on the world. Although a UN Security Council member with the world's biggest population, she generated only 2 percent of global growth," he said.

"Today she represents 15 percent of global GDP, investing about 10 billion pounds ($15 billion) each year in the UK," Graham said.

"As the only Chinese-speaking parliamentarian, I want my colleagues to see what's happening there and why China matters. In particular, how we can attract more Chinese investment in our infrastructure," he added.