China maintains friendly exchanges with 145 countries, 429 women organizations, says AIBO VP

The Vice President, of the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO), Beijing, People’s Republic of China, Mr Chen Runyun, has disclosed that the Chinese government maintains a friendly exchange with 145 countries in a bid to foster even development across the world.

Speaking recently at the opening ceremony of a seminar on ‘Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for Developing Countries on Sustainable Cities and Towns, Women and Children, Runyun added that over 429 women’s organizations, institutions as well as international organizations and agencies of the United Nations have also been impacted.

The two-week seminar which was sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China and organized by AIBO, brought together, 56 participants from 15 developing nations of the world, including Nigeria.

AIBO V.P noted that while women are the pioneers of human civilization and promoters of social progress, children are the future of countries and the hope of mankind.

He added that respect for women and care for children are important symbols of social civilization and progress and as such, the Chinese government has always attached great importance to the development of women’s cause and the protection of children’s rights and interests.

According to him, the country has established a comprehensive legal system for the protection of children’s rights and interests, including more than 100 specific laws and regulations, which provide an important guarantee for optimizing the environment for women’s development and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of women and children.

“China has been an active advocate and a strong promoter of the global cause of women and poverty alleviation. In 2020, China successfully lifted all rural populations (nearly 100 millions) out of extreme poverty, of which women accounted for about half, and completed the poverty alleviation goal 10 years ahead of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“As I know, at present, China maintains friendly exchanges with 145 countries and its 429 women’s organizations and institutions, as well as relevant international organizations and agencies of the United Nations.

“According to incomplete statistics, since 2015, China has helped other developing countries implement more than 100 Happy School Projects and 100 Maternal and Child Health Projects. China has invited 30,000 women from developing countries to China for research and skills training, set up training centres for Chinese and foreign women in 13 countries and provided material assistance to jointly build the “Belt and Road” to improve their production and living conditions, as well as their capacity building.”

Adding: “The UN Women’s Agency appreciates highly of China’s great achievements in women’s poverty alleviation, employment, education parity and health care. China has become one of the ten countries listed by the UN as the best performers in women’s and children’s health.”

Speaking on how the country successfully carried out the sustainable building of cities, he stated that the government recognized that the city is an important representative and symbol of human civilization, as well as one of the main gathering places of human life.

He said: “Cities in the 21st century have become the engine and core driving force of human progress and global economic growth. At present, the process of urbanization in the world is accelerating, and it will reach to 60 per cent by 2030.

“Urbanization is the general trend and tide of the social civilization and economic development of today’s world. China’s urbanization process has attracted the world’s attention with considerable achievements.

“Many problems in the process of urbanization are related to sustainable development and how to promote the sustainable development of cities in an orderly way is one of the important issues in the development of world civilization”, Runyun said.

He added that as the world’s largest developing country, China attaches great importance to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

“Chinese government upholds the people-centred development ideology, implements the development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing prosperity to promote high-level opening-up.

“It also integrates the 2030 Agenda with the 14th Five-Year National Development Plan and China’s path of modernization. China has also put forward new ideas and initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

“China is always willing to share with other developing countries its experiences, solutions and wisdom to improve the peaceful and common development, including the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This is one of the important reasons that we invite you to be here in China for learning and inspiring each other”, he said.

Runyun noted that AIBO is the general base for the Chinese government to carry out international development cooperation in human resources, adding that by the end of 2022, it has organized more than 2,000 training and seminar programs for about 60,000 participants, including 124 seminars for participants at the ministerial level.

“I have the honour to say it has now become a window for development experiences sharing and mutual learning, and a bridge of enhancing mutual friendship and practical cooperation between China and other developing countries.”

Responding on behalf of participants, Monika Naifete Aikali of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Namibia, reiterated that the SDGs cannot be achieved without the realization of women’s and children’s rights.

She held that as world leaders strive to deliver on the 2030 agenda, “children around the globe are standing up to secure their rights to good health, quality education, clean planet and more.”

She added that children are the leaders of tomorrow and to protect such a future depends largely on what the leaders do to secure their rights at present.

Concerning women, she stated that the seminar was an eye-opener on how China enabled women to have greater control of their lives and to make their decisions. “This entails empowering women to fully participate in the economic and political space. Women empowerment is critical as it can lead to a range of positive outcomes, including increased economic growth and development, improved health and well-being and gender equality.”

In the course of the two-week seminar, AIBO invited government officials, senior experts and scholars from relevant fields who shared China’s experience in implementing the 2030 Agenda through lectures, discussions and exchanges on the protection of women and children’s rights and interests, as well as the sustainable development of cities and towns.

There was also a field trip to Fuzhou and Fujian Provinces where participants were meant to see and feel the practice of protection of women’s and children’s rights as well as sustainable urban development.