I. On September 23, 2025, the High-Level Meeting on Global Development Initiative (GDI),themed on “Recommit to Our Original Aspirations, Unite to Build a Brighter Future of Global Development,” was held at the United Nations (U.N.) headquarters in New York. This important meeting was convened on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the U.N. and the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Premier Li Qiang of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China attended the meeting and delivered a speech. 

President of Kazakhstan H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev， President of Iraq H.E. Abdul Latif Rashid, President of Angola H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda H.E. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Pakistan H.E. Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Niger H.E. Lamine　Zeine　Ali　Mahaman, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam H.E. Bui Thanh Son, ministerial officials from over 30 countries and heads of over 20 international organizations including U.N. Secretary-Genral H.E. António Guterres and Director-General of the World Trade Organization H.E. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala attended the meeting. 

The meeting reviewed the progress achieved since the launch of the GDI, and, in particular, it recalled the significance of the High-Level Dialogue on Global Development held on June 24, 2022 to advance the implementation of the GDI. The participants exchanged in-depth views and reached extensive consensus on topics including upholding multilateralism, deepening practical cooperation, implementing the 2030 Agenda, supporting the development and revitalization of the Global South, and promoting artificial intelligence (AI) to empower development.

II. The participants stressed that development remains an eternal theme of human society and an important pillar of the work of the U.N.. Over the past 80 years since the founding of the U.N., all parties have made joint efforts to promote the global development and achieved remarkable outcomes. However, the world today is confronted with multiple challenges including rising unilateralism and protectionism, sluggish economic growth, frequent geopolitical conflicts, worsening climate change and widening digital gap. The international development cooperation has suffered a severe setback, and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is seriously lagging behind. The participants expressed deep concerns over the situation.

The participants believed that under the current situation, the international community should practice multilateralism, stay committed to the original aspirations of development, stay focused on development, remain steadfast in its commitment to the 2030 Agenda, reform and improve global governance, promote open and inclusive development and uphold the common interests of the international community, those of the Global South in particular. It is important to foster a stable and open environment for international development, build a balanced and inclusive development partnership, create future-oriented engines for innovation-driven development, and promote a more sustainable green and low-carbon development. The participants called on the international community to enhance cooperation in the following aspects:

——Upholding multilateralism. Placing development at the heart of the international agenda, and supporting the U.N. in playing a greater role in international development cooperation. Supporting the U.N. in enhancing its effectiveness and efficiency through reform and strengthening its pillar of development to better help member states implement the 2030 Agenda. Abiding by international rule of law, advocating the people-centered approach, focusing on taking real actions, promoting the reform of the global governance system, especially the reform of the international financial architecture, increasing the representation and voice of developing countries, ensuring equal rights of participation for all countries in rules-making, and providing people of all countries with fairer access to the fruits of development, so that no country or individual will be left behind.

——Upholding openness and inclusiveness. Safeguarding the WTO-centered multilateral trading system, bringing the WTO dispute settlement mechanism back to normal operation at an early date, and opposing all forms of unilateralism and protectionism. Defending free trade and open market, promoting the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and jointly building an open world economy. Fully leveraging the role of trade as an engine for promoting development, assisting developing countries in enhancing their internal driving force for development and better integrating into the global industrial chains, supply chains and value chains.

——Upholding win-win cooperation. Taking the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development as a new starting point and making collective efforts to broaden financing channels and build a fair, efficient and robust international development financing system. Keeping North-South cooperation as the main channel for international development cooperation, with South-South cooperation as a useful supplement, to jointly promote common development. Urging developed countries to fully meet their commitments on official development assistance and climate financing, and to scale up and boost the funding and technology transfer to developing countries in order to better match development resources with the actual needs of developing countries.

——Upholding innovation-driven and green development. Seizing the opportunities of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, creating an open, fair, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for technological development, deepening international scientific and technological innovation cooperation in such fields as AI and big data, jointly cultivating and strengthening new driving forces for economic growth, and eliminating the digital divide and AI divide. Actively responding to climate change, upholding the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and ensuring the full implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement. Strengthening cooperation on industries such as new energy, energy conservation and environment protection, and resource recycling, promoting coordinated development of digital and green transformation, and achieving harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

III. The participants indicated that China’s ideas and practices are highly aligned with the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter. The GDI plays an important role in building consensus on development, mobilizing resources for development and implementing the 2030 Agenda, and applauded the fruitful results of practical cooperation in various areas under the GDI. They reaffirmed their willingness to deepen cooperation in GDI’s priority areas to jointly address global challenges and explore opportunities for leapfrog development. They looked forward to continuously strengthening exchange of country-specific development approaches and policies, sharing best practices and development experience, promoting the alignment of GDI with regional and subregional development cooperation mechanisms, and creating more cooperation mechanisms and platforms.

The participants supported strengthening the building of the Group of Friends of the GDI, and hoped the U.N. Task Force on Leveraging Partnerships towards the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda could enhance dialogue with the Group of Friends of the GDI, and the Group of Friends for International Cooperation on AI Capacity-Building to conduct more practical cooperation in priority areas. They welcomed more U.N. development agencies to participate in GDI cooperation and fully leverage their professional strengths and global networking resources. They looked forward to closer engagement of multilateral development agencies with the GDI, and welcomed the active participation of governments, local authorities, think tanks, business and civil societies in GDI cooperation to pool more wisdom and strengths for implementing the 2030 Agenda.

IV. The participants thanked China for its efforts in convening this meeting. They expressed appreciation for the new announcements by China in such areas as trade, digital capability, AI, climate change and green development, and commended China’s leading and exemplary role in the course of WTO reform. Support has been expressed for the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, the Global Governance Initiative and the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President of China H.E. Xi Jinping. The participants looked forward to deepening GDI cooperation to jointly promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and build a community with a shared future for humanity.