Main areas of the UNEP's work in China.

South-South Cooperation

With fast economic growth, China is increasingly capable of helping other developing countries realize sustainable development through South-South Cooperation (SSC). "China and the World" has become a hot topic among offices of the UN system in China. SSC is one of the three key projects under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework in China. It also echoes the Belt and Road Initiatives recently put forward by the Chinese government.

Though faced with many environmental challenges, China has developed various low-cost, high-efficiency technologies and products, and accumulated experience in climate change mitigation and pollution abatement that fits other developing countries. It is expected that more Chinese cities, becoming aware of the environment's influence, will devote funds and expertise to the international promotion of sustainable economic development. These are opportunities for SSC.

Emerging countries like China are taking a leading role in SSC, said Achim Steiner. The senior environmental expert pointed out that less developed countries are no longer looking to developed countries for direction; instead, they would like to cooperate with each other, so becoming a new model of SSC. From this perspective, Steiner said, China's adoption of the path of green economy will profoundly influence the green economic transition across the world.

In 2012, the Chinese government contributed US $6 million to the UNEP's Trust Fund to support developing countries in building their capacity for environment management. On this basis UNEP offers support on an international level, including finding the most suitable technologies for countries, establishing technology transfer schemes and partnerships, and recognizing challenges.

The International Partnership on City Waste Water Technology Transfer is the best example. This project inspected over 40 kinds of sewage processing operations in more than 20 Chinese cities over a year. It meanwhile analyzed the demands of African and other less developed countries, and eventually set up last April the Asian regional hub for Global Wastewater Initiative in Beijing. The platform helps the docking between resources and demand by giving full play to information and technology sharing, so promoting SSC in wastewater processing.

In 2014, UNEP published UNEP Country Cooperation Framework on China (2014–2017), encompassing five sections including background, situation analysis, cooperation strategies, implementation means, and coordination and management. The following issues were listed in order of priority: propel the green economy in China, improve its environment capability and awareness, and assist and push forward the SSC.

The framework will lay a solid foundation for further cooperation between China and UNEP.

Jiang Nanqing is a National Officer at the UNEP.