Global Development Initiative and the Reform of Global Development Governance System

As a systematic initiative to advance global development, the Global Development Initiative (GDI) represents an important international public goods China offers to the world in the new era. Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the GDI at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021, calling for concerted efforts of the international community to stay committed to a people-centered approach, benefits for all, innovation-driven development, harmony between man and nature and results-oriented actions that aim at accelerating the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving more robust, greener and more balanced global development. Since its proposal, the GDI has embraced enriched conceptual substance, increasingly prominent core propositions, gradually improved implementation mechanisms and steady growth in prioritized cooperation. As the latest action plan to advance the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the GDI stands ready to bring development issues back to the center of the international agenda, inject strong impetus into the common development of the “Global South” and contribute a Chinese solution to the reform of the global development governance system.

GDI Provides the “Global South” with New Opportunities

The main aim and prioritized partners of the GDI are the “Global South”. “Global South” is both a political term and also a proposition about development. At present, the “Global South” is gaining momentum and becoming a key force in upholding international fairness and justice and building a new type of international relations as well as an important player in shaping global development norms and promoting global development. It is the urgent call of the “Global South” to unshackle the existing failing “norms” in development governance. The GDI responds to the call of justice of the “Global South” and provides new opportunities for development.

Firstly, the GDI innovates the theory of global development and boosts the sustainable development of the “Global South”. Holding up development as the “golden key” to advancing global governance, the GDI has served as a new-type of development theory with rich connotations. The first is to stay committed to people-centered approach. The GDI is determined to place improving people’s livelihoods in a prominent position within the global macro policy framework, highlighting the core concepts of “putting people at the center” and “development for the people”; The GDI is determined to place poverty reduction on top of the prioritized areas for cooperation to bring the global poverty reduction efforts back to the right track; The GDI is determined to take the improvement of people’s wellbeing and realization of people’s comprehensive development as the basis and ultimate goal to achieve more inclusive development that delivers benefits to more people. The second is to stay committed to the concept of common development. Western countries often view international development from the lens of capital appreciation, in which they position the West as a “transformer” and the “Global South” as “the other” and “the transformed” by the West. Such discrimination on the ground of development results in widening wealth gaps and other severe drawbacks. The GDI advocates for common development and rejects the “one-sided” and “narrow” concepts on development formed by the logic of the Western capital. The third is to innovate the theory of international public goods. International public goods are the result of the evolution and development of global development theory in the process of globalization. The GDI is a new-type of development-oriented public goods that combines concepts and actions, representing a significant innovation in traditional theories on public goods. Adhering to the principle of “convergence and integration of a diversity of sources and players”, the GDI is an integration of the collective global supply and cooperative regional supply of public goods. Such diversified channels of supply discard the conventional model of hegemonic supply and cater to the development demands of the “Global South”.

Secondly, the GDI builds a development support system to optimize the resources for the development of the “Global South”. It is pointed out in the Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that “China is prepared to invest more resources in global development cooperation. It is committed to narrowing the North-South gap and supporting and assisting other developing countries in accelerating development.” Most countries in the “Global South” suffer from low-level development, incomplete support systems and grave climate vulnerability. The interest rate hike of the US dollar in recent years has imposed onerous debt burdens on the “Global South”. High-level debt, huge financing gaps and poor financing conditions could easily trigger solvency risks. Under such circumstances, the GDI adheres to the principle of “a diversity of investment and synergies”. By adopting the development-centered, innovation-driven and action-oriented concepts and focusing on eight critical areas of cooperation including green development and digital economy, the GDI aims to optimize development resources, improve development financing and avoid high debt risks. In the meantime, the GDI beefs up the efforts in talent training and capacity building and pushes forward the sustainable industrialization process of the “Global South”, so as to boost high-quality, sustainable, more comprehensive and balanced development.

The financing gap is a thorny challenge facing the “Global South”. The GDI helps the “Global South” overcome development bottlenecks, narrow financing gaps and provide support through debt relief, development aid and other means to prevent systemic financial risks. China has continuously increased its input of resources in global development cooperation. In such efforts, China has integrated and upgraded the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund into the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, adding one billion U.S. Dollars on top of the existing three billion. China has also invested more in the China-UN Peace and Development Fund, with total input of 120 million U.S. Dollars to the fund as of April 2022. In December 2021, China donated 50 million U.S. Dollars to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, contributing to the achievement of the Goal 1 (No Poverty) and Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) of the agenda for sustainable development. As of July 2024, the China-FAO South-South Cooperation Trust Fund had totaled 130 million U.S. Dollars. In 2023, the China International Development Cooperation Agency mobilized 12 billion U.S. Dollars in earmarked funds for the first time in support of the implementation of the GDI, standing as a breakthrough of how international development cooperation is financed. In June 2024, China announced the establishment of the China-IFAD South-South and Triangular Cooperation Facility within the International Fund for Agricultural Development, with an additional donation equivalent to 10 million U.S. Dollars to boost agricultural development in the “Global South”. The GDI is also committed to multi-directional synergies to stimulate other partners’ investment in global development resources. China has pushed forward the approval and implementation of a 650 billion U.S. Dollars SDR allocation of Special Drawing Rights by the International Monetary Fund, facilitating consensus on the SDR lending and enhancing the organization’s crisis response capabilities. China made the 20th round of donation to the International Development Association, pushing up the total capital increase to 93 billion U.S. Dollars; China also contributed to the approval by the World Bank of the supplementary Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) Initiative with a total amount of 1.1 billion U.S. Dollars; China also backed the G20 debt relief plan and tops the G20 members with the highest deferral amount. In short, China has helped alleviate the debt burden of the “Global South” and no country has ever fallen into the so-called “debt trap” because of its cooperation with China.