Interview: China's sustainable growth "great contribution" to Latin America, world: UN official

China's sustainable growth is a "great contribution" to Latin America and the world as a whole, said an official of a United Nations (UN) agency Tuesday.

Antonio Prado, deputy executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said in an interview with Xinhua that China's GDP growth, which has been maintained above 6 percent, is "a great contribution" to Latin America and especially the Caribbean region.

"We know China is making a great effort for this goal," noted the senior executive on the sidelines of the agency's ongoing 36th session, a biannual summit held here this week.

Prado also hailed China's sustainable growth for having helped the region resist the global economic downturn, adding the Asian country's commitment to advancing energy-saving technologies and keeping reducing its annual energy consumption are constructive to revolutionize the world's power-consuming model in heavy industry, transportation and public institutions in the next five years.

Prado pointed out that the fight against climate change will only become more acute in the coming decades without the sharing of technologies that allow for greater energy efficiency, which may otherwise be the crucial part of the struggle.

The official also called on all developed and developing countries to implement policies with the focus on promoting innovation, clean technology and productivity.

"This is not an investment. It is a necessary action, especially when we face the big problem of climate change. We are reaching a threshold which would have severe and unforeseen impacts if surpassed," he said.

The ECLAC called for progressive structural reforms by all its members "in order to bring force to their economies, boost investments, increase innovation and focus on a cleaner and more sustainable planet," he noted. Endi