Box 16 President Xi Jinping Has Announced a Series of Major Projects for International Development Cooperation

China has made solemn commitments and taken concrete steps to carry out international development cooperation. On several international occasions President Xi has announced a series of major projects for international development cooperation.

In 2015, at a series of summits marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the UN, President Xi announced a number of important measures: In the next five years, China would support 600 projects in other developing countries – 100 poverty alleviation projects, 100 agricultural cooperation projects, 100 trade promotion assistance projects, 100 environmental protection and climate change projects, 100 hospitals and clinics, and 100 schools and vocational training centers – and help them to implement 100 “maternal and child health projects” and 100 “happy campus projects”. China would set up an Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation, a China-UN Peace and Development Fund, an Institute of South-South Cooperation, and a Center for International Knowledge on Development. It would offer training and scholarships to other developing countries. It would also cancel the interest-free loan debts of eligible countries.

At the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation in 2015, President Xi announced that in the following three years China and Africa would focus on implementing 10 cooperation plans on industrialization, agricultural modernization, infrastructure, finance, green development, trade and investment facilitation, poverty alleviation, public health, people-to-people exchanges, and peace and security. China also pledged US$60 billion in funding support.

At the First Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2017, President Xi announced further measures: In the coming three years, China would provide assistance worth RMB60 billion to developing countries and international organizations participating in the BRI for more projects to improve peoples’ lives. It would provide emergency food aid worth RMB2 billion to developing countries along the routes, make an additional contribution of US$1 billion to the Assistance Fund for SouthSouth Cooperation, and launch 100 happy home projects, 100 poverty alleviation projects, and 100 healthcare and rehabilitation projects in countries along the routes. It would also provide US$1 billion to relevant international organizations.

At the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2018, President Xi announced that China would implement eight major initiatives with African countries in the next three years and beyond, covering industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, green development, capacity building, healthcare, peopleto-people exchanges, and peace and security. To facilitate smooth implementation, China would extend a total of US$60 billion of support to Africa in the form of government assistance and investment and financing by financial institutions and enterprises.

At the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2019, President Xi announced a series of new measures: China would implement the Belt and Road South-South Cooperation Initiative on Climate Change, expand cooperation in agriculture, health, disaster relief and water resources. It would invite 10,000 representatives to visit China, encourage and support social organizations of BRI participating countries in jointly undertaking projects for improving people’s lives, and continue to run the Chinese government scholarship Silk Road Program.

At the opening ceremony of the video conference of the 73rd World Health Assembly in 2020, President Xi announced a series of major measures to support the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic: China would provide US$2 billion in international assistance within two years, work with the UN to set up a global humanitarian emergency warehouse and hub in China, and establish a cooperation mechanism for its hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals. China’s new vaccine would serve as a global public product once developed and introduced. China would also work with other G20 members to implement the Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries.