China's progress on key SDGs offer replicable model for the Global South

As the world marks the 10th anniversary of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a new report reveals that China has achieved several of its Sustainable Development Goals ahead of schedule.

Experts believe China's experience can offer valuable and practical lessons for developing nations across the Global South.

These remarks were delivered at the launch of the latest China Progress Report on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Compiled by the Center for International Knowledge on Development (CIKD), the report was launched on Dec 19 in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, and has been published biennially since 2017.

The report highlights that China has achieved critical goals ahead of time, including eradicating extreme poverty, ending hunger, providing universal primary and secondary education, ensuring universal access to electricity, and promoting and implementing renewable energy sources.

Data from the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals at the Chinese Academy of Sciences further supports these findings. By 2024, China had achieved or was close to achieving 141 of the 233 assessed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators, representing 60.5 percent of the total.

Wang Jinzhao, executive vice-president of the CIKD, said that over the past decade, China has made active efforts to achieve the UN 2030 Agenda in accordance with national development conditions.

Beyond its domestic efforts, China is also contributing to other countries' implementation of the 2030 Agenda, for which China has implemented over 190 projects in more than 70 countries in collaboration with over 20 international organizations, benefiting more than 40 million people.

Ashwani Muthoo, director-general of the New Development Bank's Independent Evaluation Office, said China has provided impetus for achieving multiple SDGs through large-scale renewable energy projects, sustainable urban transport, digital infrastructure construction and green urban development.

He noted that these practices, in terms of scale, speed of implementation and innovative pathways, offer valuable and replicable experiences for other developing countries in the Global South.

Phoebe Koundouri, professor at the School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business, stated that China is one of the few countries that is accelerating its progress in achieving and implementing the SDGs. China's contribution to the SDGs is crucial, demonstrating its leadership in implementing the 2030 Agenda, she said.

China is setting an example with its successful experience, which is something other countries can learn from to help the world advance the 2030 Agenda, she added.