CIDCA chairman: BRI highlights green-oriented growth

Luo Zhaohui, chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), delivered a speech at the Sustainable Development Forum 2021 held in Beijing on Sept 27.

Luo said green is the underlying color of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and that China has made the construction of an ecological civilization a millennium plan for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.

China's announcement last September of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, as well as the recent announcement of no longer building new coal-fired power projects abroad, all won praise across the world, said Luo, adding that China will also host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming, Yunnan province this October. 

He said the country will continually improve its policy frameworks related to green-oriented cooperation under the BRI, formulate standards and release documents concerning green-oriented cooperation, and advance the building of multilateral cooperation platforms such as the BRI International Green Development Coalition.

China, together with other countries, has launched an initiative on green-oriented development partnerships to strengthen their cooperation in green infrastructure, green energy and green financing. It will remain committed to the green-oriented development partnerships while implementing the BRI and uphold and follow the Paris Agreement.

China has attached great importance to the sustainability of its debts held by other countries, none of which have ever slid into debt-related crises because of their participation in the BRI. China has actively responded to the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative. It put off debt repayments exceeding $1.3 billion in 2020, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total amount deferred by G20 members, the highest deferral amount among G20 members.