United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan Thursday praised the Chinese government and people for their strong support for the UN and the cause of equitable, sustainable development.  

Annan said in his message to the World Economic Development Declaration Conference (WEDDC) that he hoped other developing countries would learn from China in terms of reducing the number of people living under the poverty line.

The message was delivered at the ongoing conference by Annan's emissary Khalid Malik, UN Development Program resident representative in China. It also noted that the WEDDC is an opportunity to forge partnerships among governments, business and society to contribute to global peace and to ensure globalization becomes a positive force for all people in the world.

Annan urged all the participants to the conference to examine the first Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) report on China, due out in the coming months. He said they should consider how best to address urgent matters such as AIDS and environmental protection in China.

The MDGs are the development targets set three years ago as part of the Millennium Declaration to help alleviate global poverty, the most daunting of all the problems facing the world in the new century.

Eight commitments were embraced in the MDGs, including halving extreme poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, providing universal primary education, promoting gender equality and fighting environmental degradation.

"The MDGs are not just wishful thinking and are certainly ambitious, but they are also technically feasible, even in the relatively short time allowed,'' said Annan.

Annan also said the UN and its partners are mounting a major effort to progress the MDGs. They are giving new operational support to developing countries, drawing on the best global thinking on each issue, campaigning to raise awareness among policy-makers and the general public, and issuing annual reports monitoring progress on a country-by-country basis.

Annan urges concrete actions to realize MDGs

In addition, Annan urged both developed and developing countries to take concrete actions to make the MDGs come true.

Developing countries should undertake political and economic reforms and liberate the creative energies of their people. Developed countries should support these steps with new aid commitments, debt relief and equitable trading rules.

"Next year will be very important for the UN to realize the MDGs,'' said Malik in an interview with China Daily Thursday. He added that campaigns to promote the UN's goals in poverty alleviation and environmental protection will start soon.

Trade and investment should be liberalized further to address world trade issues and secure development, Malik said. "Trade must serve development instead of complicating it.''

The international community should cooperate more and eliminate trade barriers between developed and the developing countries, he added.

Malik said he believed the Zhuhai Declaration, which states closed countries and economies cannot effectively participate in the world economy, will contribute to breaking down trade barriers between countries and regions.

"The unique role that China has played in the world economy will have a big consequence for other developing countries,'' Malik said.

(China Daily November 7, 2003)