China's Position Paper on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The United Nations Sustainable Development Summit held in September 2015 laid out common visions of the world to seek win-win cooperation and development of all. The Summit adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which provides guidance to national development and international development cooperation in the next 15 years, marking a milestone in global development process. Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the joint task of all countries. While facing with sluggish world economic recovery, widening development gap between the North and the South, dwindling momentum in international development cooperation, the international community is also confronted with challenges like refugee crisis, terrorism, public health threats and the climate change. All countries should work together to translate leaders' commitments to concrete actions by implementing the 2030 Agenda. Development could serve as means to address various global challenges, speed up economic transformation and upgrading, map out the course of equitable, open, all-round, innovation-driven and sustainable development and advance the well-being of mankind.

I. General Principles

-Principle of Peaceful Development. Countries should safeguard the purposes and principles of the UN Charter through commitment to peaceful coexistence, build a new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation, and foster peaceful, stable and harmonious regional and international environment enabling for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

-Principle of Win-win Cooperation. Governments, private sectors, civil society and international organizations should foster a sense of community of shared interests and establish all-round partnership in playing respective role in global development cooperation. Countries should jointly participate in global development progress and development rules making, share development gains on an equal footing.

-Principle of Integration and Coordination. It is essential to make development serve the people and put people first. Countries should give priority to poverty eradication and people's livelihood, safeguard social equity and justice and firmly implement the concept of sustainable development, so as to achieve economic, social and environmental development in a balanced way, as well as harmony between individuals and the society and between man and nature.

-Principle of Inclusiveness and Openness. Countries should commit to achieving inclusive economic growth and building an inclusive society, where development gains are shared by all and no one is left behind. Concerted efforts should be made to build an open world economy and increase the representation and voice of developing countries in global economic governance.

-Principle of Sovereignty and Voluntary Action. Reaffirming that every country has full sovereignty over its own economic development and implementation of the 2030 Agenda, countries should be encouraged to formulate their domestic development strategies and take measures to implement the 2030 Agenda in accordance with their national conditions and respective characteristics. It is important to respect every country's choice for development path and draw on experience of each other.

-Principle of "Common but Differentiated Responsibilities". The implementation of the 2030 Agenda is a common objective, while the means of implementation should be allowed to be differentiated, due to diversified national conditions and respective capabilities, so that all countries would be able to make their own contributions to the global implementation.