UN official lauds China's G20 presidency in promoting sustainable development

UNITED NATIONS - A senior UN official told Xinhua that thanks to China's presidency, the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 (G20) is expected to play a great role in promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Targets (SDGs), a blueprint for the global development efforts for the years up to 2030.

Wu Hongbo, the UN under-secretary-general for the economic and social affairs, said in a recent interview with Xinhua that "during the current G20 presidency, China has made sure that the G20 aligns its work with the new UN development agenda, putting the issue of development in a prominent place in the global macro policy framework for the first time in G20 history."

Furthermore, under China's presidency, G20 members has formulated the action plan for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda as one of the most important outcomes of the summit, he said.

Wu will be one of the members of the UN delegation to the G20 summit, which will be held on September 4-5 in China's eastern city of Hangzhou.

"The Hangzhou summit will directly contribute to the 2030 Agenda's full and timely implementation," he said.

G20 members represent the largest economies in the world, meaning that they contribute to a large proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP) across the globe, Wu noted. "They are really in a better position to promote the implementation of the SDGs."

Meanwhile, Wu also spoke highly of the Chinese move to bolster the presence of developing countries in the Hangzhou summit, echoing the comment by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the G20 summit, to be hosted for the first time by China, will "take the G20 summit to another level of inclusiveness."

Ban, in a recent interview with Xinhua and several other UN-based Chinese media outlets, spoke highly of the Chinese leadership in focusing the upcoming G20 summit on promoting global green growth and making the summit the most representative of developing countries in G20 history.

In Hangzhou, the G20 leaders are expected to discuss how to boost economic growth in a sustainable way, he said, adding that over the past years, the world economy has gradually recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, but the economic situation is still complex and serious.

China, which holds the G20 presidency for 2016, chose "Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy" as the theme of the coming summit, identifying four key priorities, namely, "breaking a new path for growth," "more effective and efficient global economic and financial governance," "robust international trade and investment" and "inclusive and interconnected development."

"It will be of a great significance that the major economies and economic group can find a way to help the world out of a weak economy at an early date and promote the global economy in a healthy and sustainable manner," Wu said.