China said Tuesday that the country is striving to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a series of universally accepted targets to be reached by 2015, through enhanced international cooperation.

The statement came as Yi Xiaozhun, the Chinese vice minister of Commerce, was delivering a keynote speech at the Development Cooperation Forum, sponsored by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, at the UN Headquarters in New York.

"The global financial crisis has rendered development constraints more prominent and the attainment of the MDGs more challenging," Yi said. "The gap between the rich and the poor is widening with an estimated additional 64 million people in extreme poverty this year."

To take Africa for example, he said, the crisis has also slowed down the economic growth of the African countries from 6 percent in average in 2006-2008 to 2.5 percent in 2009 he said.

"As China feels the same way as other developing countries do in times of crisis, it would like to urgently call upon the international community to take effective measures to support developing countries," he said.

The Chinese vice minister put forward four recommendations:

-- First, priorities should be given to those developing countries which are hardest hit and with the least capacity to recover on their own, he said.

"The international community should remain firmly committed and honor their resolve in achieving the MDGs by maintaining their funding commitments and the scale of their support, and creating favorable external conditions for developing countries to pursue economic, trade and financial development," he said.

-- Second, developed countries should undertake primary responsibilities in developing financing, he said.

"The acceleration of development and enhancement of cooperation depend on the increased level of financing for development," he said. "Developed countries should establish a clear timetable to meet their ODA (official development assistance) commitments, including their commitment to the Monterrey Consensus."

The Monterrey Consensus was the outcome of the 2002 Monterrey Conference in Mexico, the United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development. It was adopted by heads of state and government on March 22, 2002. Over 50 heads of state and 200 ministers of finance, foreign affairs, development and trade participated in the event.

-- Third, market access for the least developed countries (LDC) should be further improved, he said.

"The developed countries should not shy away from granting duty-free and quota-free treatment to LDCs and substantially reducing the huge subsidies on cotton and other agricultural production," he said.

-- Fourth, we should emphasize capacity building and technology transfer, he said.

"This is an important macro-level strategy to support developing countries in a coordinated manner," he said. "An increased investment, as well as an enhanced capacity building and technology transfer would help the recipient countries to acquire management and professional skills and effectively enhance their capacity for national development," he said.

"The global financial crisis rarely seen in a century not only affected the developed economies, but dealt developing countries an even heavier blow with LDCs falling the biggest victim," he said. "Therefore the international community should not only pay attention to the economic recovery and sovereign debt crisis of developed countries, but more importantly to take immediate measures to help LDCs recover from their economic difficulties."

"China believes that only in this way can a timely achievement of the MDGs be within reach," he added.

The MDGs include the eight goals for reducing extreme poverty and hunger, improving health and education, empowering women and ensuring environmental sustainability, which are to be achieved by 2015.

(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2010)