A very good morning to all of you.

We meet at a time of compounding global challenges and a profound strain for international development.  

The climate emergency is accelerating. The past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record. This summer, heatwaves scorched large areas of Asia, Europe, and North America. And the catastrophic mudslide along the China‑Nepal border reinforced concerns that glacial hazards are growing, in frequency and intensity.  

At the same time, conflicts and geopolitical tensions are diverting scarce and diminishing resources away from long-term development.  

Official development assistance dropped 23.1% in 2025 from the previous year – a historic decline.  

This challenging global landscape puts the Sustainable Development Goals in jeopardy.  

With less than four years to 2030, just over a third of targets are on track or progressing moderately. 15 percent are actually regressing.

This is why international development cooperation and multilateralism matter so much. Through cooperation, countries can collectively respond to global challenges that no one country can navigate alone.    

Notably, this spirit of cooperation has been reflected in China’s increasing international development engagements.  

In its first ten years, the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund supported more than 20 international organizations in implementing over 200 projects across 70 countries. Over 40 million people benefitted through interventions like building public health capacities, disaster relief, extending agricultural technology, supporting livelihoods and empowering women.iv

I recently arrived in China from one recipient country, Bangladesh. There, with the support of the GDF we helped 800 people launch or grow small, sustainable businesses, providing assets, like sewing machines, or I.T. equipment, and training to use them as well as health and nutrition support. As of June, 387,000 people had benefitted across six cities.

UNDP is proud to be a partner on this journey, working with China to advance international development cooperation that builds a more sustainable future, while benefiting the most vulnerable.  

Together, we have implemented 39 projects across 26 countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America, benefiting 18 million people.  

For example, in six partner countries, we support climate-vulnerable communities better anticipate disaster risks, through disaster response and recovery to enhance climate information and early-warning systems, delivering critical upgrades. By the end of 2027, we aim to strengthen the resilience of 4.7 million people against climate change, in countless communities and villages.  

Results are tangible.  

Communities are benefiting from strengthened technical infrastructure that sharpens hazard prediction accuracy and risk analysis. This includes forecasting stations, weather observation networks, seismic and volcanic monitoring tools.

At the same time, we scaled multilingual alert systems, community outreach channels, and last-mile communication tools for warnings to reach the most vulnerable quickly.  

National disaster management frameworks, standard operating procedures, and data-sharing protocols have also been reinforced to enable faster, better-coordinated responses.  

Our shared priority is clear: supporting countries in moving from commitment to implementation, benefiting from each other’s strengths and expertise, collectively advancing the vision embedded by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  

There are three ways we can further do this, together:

• First, complement bilateral engagement with multilateral support. Further combining China’s bilateral aid programmes with the UN system’s technical expertise, robust safeguards, and extensive country presence can amplify impact and ensure assistance reaches those furthest behind, first.
• Second, broaden South-South partnerships. Engaging a broader range of Global South partners and emerging development cooperation providers - including academia, financial institutions, technical solution providers, and foundations - can multiply resources, expertise, and solutions available to developing countries.
• Third, making innovation accessible and locally relevant. Projects that leverage digital, AI and green technologies need to be accompanied by investments in capacities, institutions and enabling policies. This will allow developing countries not only to adopt new technologies, but also to apply them responsibly and according to their priorities.  

I am confident that we can forge new partnerships today, turn shared knowledge into practical solutions, and accelerate green digital cooperation that delivers for people and planet.

I want to thank the many vital players in South-South Cooperation here today. Senior officials, experts, development practitioners, as well as my UN colleagues.  

Thank you for your partnership and shared commitment to inclusive, sustainable development.  

I also want to thank the Institute of Global Development of Zhejiang University for partnering with us on this event.  

I wish us all a fruitful discussion today towards our shared goal: a future that our Earth sustain, while leaving no one behind.