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china news service, beijing, august 30, title: interview with un official chang qide: i hope that china-africa cooperation will surge forward like the waves

author: zeng yue

chang qide, resident coordinator of the united nations development system in china, likes poetry.

in the spring of 2021, when chang qide came to china to take up his new post, he published a signed article in the chinese media, in which he regarded the "three friends of winter" in chinese culture - pine, plum and bamboo, as a poetic expression of the commonly used terms in the united nations - "resilience", "equality" and "sustainability".

that same spring, china announced that it had achieved a comprehensive victory in the fight against poverty, completing the arduous task of eliminating absolute poverty and achieving the poverty reduction goals of the united nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development 10 years ahead of schedule. some commentators said that this remarkable achievement demonstrated china's wisdom in enhancing resilience, reducing inequality and achieving sustainable development.

"this shows that strong political will, correct public policies and good partnerships are working together." recently, chang qide said in an exclusive interview with china news service in beijing that china has made significant contributions to global poverty reduction, and its poverty alleviation achievements and experience have brought important inspiration to "global south" partners including africa.

recently, when attending the world youth development forum in beijing, chang qide, resident coordinator of the united nations development system in china, accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from china news service on china-africa cooperation. photo by wang ziru

chang qide has spent half of his career in africa. he has served as the un resident coordinator in kenya and witnessed the process and results of the continuous deepening of china-africa cooperation. "the belt and road initiative has brought tremendous changes to africa. i have seen remarkable cooperation in various fields such as infrastructure construction, education, energy, agriculture, and medical care."

"if you want to get rich, build roads first." taking infrastructure construction as an example, chang qide pointed out that china has helped africa improve its infrastructure by building roads, bridges, power transmission, and internet access, and has made important contributions to promoting connectivity on the african continent.

over the years, under the cooperation mechanisms such as the forum on china-africa cooperation and the belt and road initiative, china-africa cooperation has built and upgraded nearly 100,000 kilometers of roads, more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly 1,000 bridges, and nearly 100 ports. "this connectivity has made the flow of resources such as personnel, goods and services in african countries more frequent, thereby promoting more trade and accelerating economic growth," said chang qide.

"here, i see the broad space and huge potential for south-south cooperation." he further pointed out, "most importantly, the spirit of multilateralism is still alive."

as he did many times before, chang qide wore a badge composed of the un flag and the chinese flag during an exclusive interview with reporters. he said that this is a badge that symbolizes multilateralism and human cooperation, and represents friendship, trust and empathy.

"as the united nations country team, we have always strongly supported and advocated providing necessary capacity building cooperation to african countries." chang qide appreciated china's various support for promoting africa's development, and said that the united nations will maintain close cooperation with china and africa to help consolidate the bridge of china-africa cooperation, encourage science and technology to empower innovative development, and inject more impetus into the leapfrog development of africa's economy and society.

in the face of global challenges such as climate change, food security and energy crisis, chang qide called for more dialogue and cooperation to push the 2030 agenda for sustainable development back on track. "i particularly welcome the global development initiative," he said. "the global development initiative provides important opportunities for accelerating the implementation of the sustainable development goals."

africa is an important partner for china to implement its global development initiatives. when talking about the future prospects of china-africa cooperation, chang qide used a poem by the poet james w. foley to describe it:

a stone is thrown into calm water, it splashes and then disappears, but circles of ripples swirl around and spread outward from the center, flowing all the way to the sea, with no one knowing where the end is... the ripples are still spreading, and eventually form huge waves. a stone disturbs the sea.

he added: “this is my vision for china-africa cooperation, to surge forward like the waves of the ocean, to inspire and unleash its full potential.”

(china news network)