Lin Songtian: China’s success is the UN’s success

Tu Lili

O n Aug 1， Lin Songtian， president of the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， met with Siddharth Chatterjee， the UNs resident coordinator in China. The two sides had friendly and indepth exchanges on the United Nationscontribution to Chinas development， Chinas achievements in development， the countrys policies for cooperation with Africa and their results and other topics of common interest.

Among those present at the meeting were Beate Trankmann， UN Development Programme Representative in China； Shahbaz Khan， UNESCO representative in China； Justine Coulson， UN Population Fund representative in China； Nenad Radonjic， UNICEF representative in China； and Ji Yongjun， deputy director-general of Asian & African Affairs for the CPAFFC.

Lin invited Chatterjee and his party to visit the CPAFFC. He recalled the friendly history of close cooperation and partnership between China and the United Nations over the past half-century and more. He said that with the support of the UN and other international communities， China has achieved a great leap from high-speed development to high-quality development and high-level opening-up.

With Xi Jinping at its core， the CPC Central Committee has always adhered to and developed the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics， and the vision of people-centered development and the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly. China has made remarkable achievements and historic changes in development over the past decades. It depends on the concerted and tenacious efforts of its 1.4 billion people.

Despite the joint influence of changes unseen in a century and the COVID-19 pandemic， China won its battle against poverty as scheduled last year， achieved the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects， lifted every one of its people out of absolute poverty and contributed over 70 percent of the worlds poverty reduction， Lin said.

Based on what he had seen and heard， Lin mentioned the poverty alleviation and development miracle in Ningde， Fujian province， and Minning town in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. He said these were all successful in implementing President Xis important remarks on targeted poverty alleviation and green development.

Chinas success in development and poverty reduction is also an important achievement of the UN in achieving its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The countrys success “is of important demonstration significance” to Africa and other developing countries in their pursuit of independent and sustainable development， Lin said.

Citing his own work experience， Lin spoke of Chinas policies and practical measures in Africa. He said Africa is rich in natural and human resources and full of hope and vitality for development. However， it faces three major development bottlenecks： underdeveloped infrastructure， lack of talented people and a shortage of funds. Whoever helps Africa solve these problems will be Africas true friend and reliable partner， he said.

President Xi Jinping values China-Africa relations and has made several trips to Africa and attended the Johannesburg Summit and Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation （FOCAC）， together with African leaders. The meetings ushered in a new era of win-win cooperation and common development. An important outcome of the two summits was support for Africa in breaking the three development bottlenecks and helping African countries enhance their capac- ity for independent and sustainable development.

Lin praised the valuable support given by UN agencies in China at the early stage of Chinas reform and opening-up and its active promotion of South-South cooperation.

“Chinas success is the UNs success，” Lin said.

As a major platform for international development cooperation， the UN plays a constructive role in coordinating global resources to accelerate the development of all countries and promote common development.

China firmly supports the UNs work and its core role in international affairs and is willing to further deepen South-South cooperation under the framework of the UN， share its development experience with African countries and others and work for the realization of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Chatterjee happily recalled his work experience in Africa and China. He spoke positively of Chinas policies toward Africa and the achievements resulting from its aid. He said international aid can solve the problem of short-term survival but it cannot help Africa achieve independent， sustainable development. Chinas cooperation with Africa focuses on long-term development and is committed to “teaching a man to fish rather than give him fish”， he said. Chinas path is worthy of emulation by the international community， he added.

Chatterjee and his party appreci- ate Chinas rapid economic and social development and high-quality development achievements. He noted that since the restoration of its lawful seat in the UN， China had worked hand-inhand with the UN to achieve mutual success.

“The success of the UN is also the success of China，” he said， acknowledging the fact that in recent years， under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping， China had focused on achieving its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals； coordinated environmental protection with economic development； balanced climate change and peoples livelihoods； committed itself to green， sustainable and high-quality development； and played an important role in accelerating the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The two sides agreed that deepening the China-UN partnership is of great significance. They should uphold real multilateralism， strengthen coordination and cooperation， give full play to their respective advantages， work together and focus on agriculture， green development， women， children and youth. They will build a platform for experience-sharing and cooperation with Africa， implement the Global Development Initiative， make greater contributions to poverty reduction and independent and sustainable development in Africa and contribute more to the building of an even closer community with a shared future for mankind.