China FM calls for actions in pursuing sustainable development goals

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday calls on the Group of 20 (G20) countries to turn consensus into actions, and fulfill sustainable development goals listed in a UN blueprint for eradicating poverty.

Wang made the remarks in a G20 foreign ministerial meeting in Germany's western city of Bonn, where top diplomats gathered to discuss global issues, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The 2030 Agenda, endorsed and launched at the UN Summit for Sustainable Development in 2015, is a blueprint for eradicating poverty worldwide for the years leading up to 2030.

The issue of development, Wang said, had been placed at the core of the agendas at the G20 Hangzhou Summit last year, where global leaders endorsed the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development.

To implement the action plan, Wang urged G20 members to integrate the 2030 Agenda into their own development strategies, and continue to set development as a core issue for G20.

Thirdly, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should be upheld, and parties concerned should take the lead in implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change, Wang said.

Wang said China has already integrated the 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development into its own national development program.

Last year, China took the lead to formulate and release its national plan for implementing the 2030 Agenda, he said.

The Chinese government has set poverty reduction as a top priority, and it had lifted additional over 10 million people out of poverty in 2016.

China is set to in advance fulfill the sustainable development goals listed in the 2030 Agenda, Wang said.

Wang also said China is pressing ahead with the Belt and Road Initiative and China aims to align and coordinate the development strategies and policies of the countries along the Belt and Road, so as to implement mutual beneficial cooperation and achieve common development.

Wang also said the Chinese government has established the China-UN Peace and Development Fund, including a sub-fund for implementing the 2030 Agenda, and China expects it to play its due role.