China releases national plan for implementation of UN sustainable development agenda

Premier Li said at the roundtable that it is the ultimate goal of China's modernization to have some 1.3 billion people to live a well-off life. [Photo/Xinhua]

China released on Sept 19 its national plan for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations Headquarter in New York.

The national plan was released by Premier Li Keqiang when he chaired a roundtable on the Sustainable Development Goals.

The plan consists of five parts, including China's achievements and experience on implementing the Millennium Development Goals, and the challenges and opportunities, guiding principles, roadmap and detailed plans of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.

As the first national plan that specifies various domains and goal-oriented concrete measures, the plan comprehensively expounds China's development policy and China's efforts to help other developing countries to forge ahead the process of global implementation.

In September last year, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for people, the planet, peace, prosperity and partnership.

Premier Li said at the roundtable that it is the ultimate goal of China's modernization to have some 1.3 billion people to live a well-off life.

In the past 15 years, China has been leading the global efforts to realize the UN Millennium Development Goals by lifting nearly 400 million people out of poverty, reducing the mortality of children under five years old by two thirds and that of pregnant women by three fourths, said Premier Li. China has weaved the largest web of social security and elderly care in the world, Premier Li added.

Meanwhile, China has already put the agenda into its national development plans, aiming to lift all the poor population by the current standards out of poverty by 2020, ten years ahead of schedule for realizing the goal of poverty- and hunger-alleviation, women and children care and housing security, said the Premier.

China also aims to achieve goals in other major areas including agriculture, health, education and economic growth by 2030, Premier Li said.

As a responsible developing country, China has actively participated in international cooperation on development and will continue to contribute to the South-South Cooperation, Premier Li said.

He said the China-initiated assistance fund for South-South Cooperation and the China-UN Peace and Development Fund will formally start operation by the end of this year, adding that the China-proposed Academy of South-South Cooperation and Development has also enrolled the first batch of students.

In order to support a bigger UN role in the implementation of the Agenda, China pledges additional $100 million in annual aid to UN development agencies in 2020 on top of the amount in 2015, Premier Li said.

He also announced that China's donation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will reach $18 million in the next three years.

The roundtable, hosted by the Chinese government, was attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN General Assembly President Peter Thomson and heads of 16 international organizations including UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo and WHO Director-General Margaret Chen.