Five years on, China's GDI turns UN's development goals into action

In Cambodia's Kampong Chhnang Province, a smart greenhouse is changing how local farmers grow vegetables – and how they earn a living.

Once dependent on the weather, farmers can now control shading and precision irrigation systems, reducing the vegetable-growing cycle from two to three months to just one month.

A local processing factory has approached the farmers to discuss long-term supply partnerships.

The project, supported by China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has directly involved 30 farming households in smart agriculture.

Each household is expected to increase its annual income by more than 3,000 yuan ($420), while the village's overall poverty rate is projected to fall by 1 to 2 percentage points, according to the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation China Secretariat.

The project illustrates how development cooperation can translate into tangible benefits for local communities.

It also offers a glimpse of the ambition behind China's Global Development Initiative (GDI), which marks its fifth anniversary this year: promoting shared development globally through practical cooperation.

Putting development at the heart of global cooperation Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the GDI on September 21, 2021, during the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

He called on the international community to place development at the center of the global macro-policy framework and forge a united, equal, balanced, and inclusive global development partnership.

The initiative came as the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development faced mounting challenges.

Adopted in 2015, the agenda sets out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, including ending poverty in all its forms everywhere.

But progress has been uneven.

In 2020, world hunger spiked dramatically by an estimated 118 million to 161 million people compared with 2019, an increase exceeding the cumulative rise over the previous five years, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

Trade tensions, geopolitical conflicts and other global pressures have further complicated development efforts, with developing countries often bearing the brunt.