Nation helping solve puzzle of global modernization

African entrepreneurs learn about Meituan's smart hotel operating system. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Joint efforts

Gatwech Koak Nyuon, who works for the government of Jonglei State, South Sudan, said he had learned how a huge section of the population had been lifted out of poverty by the Chinese government, and the economic strategies it had used.

"The agenda for most developing countries is to get out of poverty and to unite, to ensure we become independent in terms of the economy," he said.

Tulu said China uses a variety of planning approaches to handle regional differences and encourage balanced growth. This guarantees that every region contributes to and gains from national development.

The government has prioritized increasing work opportunities for the underprivileged through public welfare jobs, enterprise job creation, labor market collaboration among regions, vocational training, and encouraging entrepreneurship, he said.

"These are lessons that will help us develop our own plans for reducing poverty within the context of our own socioeconomic situation," he said.

Fatou Jobe, senior assistant secretary at Gambia's Ministry of Lands and Regional Governance, said traveling through villages in China she saw that China's development is not a "miracle", but instead the result of a lot of hard work that a great deal of planning went into.

As a food security specialist who did her research in China, Jobe said she was impressed by an agricultural network where companies choose to work with farmers instead of putting them out of business. For farmers who want to retain and work their own land, the companies enter into an arrangement where they promise to buy their produce, which ensures the farmers have a market, she said.

"Such initiatives can prove useful in helping farmers in my country sustain their source of livelihoods, while also improving the food insecurity challenges we face," Jobe said.

"As such, having had the opportunity to witness firsthand the significance of cooperation and planning, I am inspired to make similar recommendations that would encourage dialogue and cooperation between farmers and big companies with the aim of mutual benefit," she added.

Deepening cooperation

President Xi announced in Beijing on Friday a host of steps to better support Global South cooperation. His key policy address was to mark the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

China will establish a Global South research center, and it will provide 1,000 scholarships under the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Scholarship of Excellence and 100,000 training opportunities to Global South countries in the coming five years.

The nation will also launch a Global South youth leaders program, he said. China will renew the China-IFAD South-South and Triangular Cooperation Facility, and make an additional contribution of $10 million to be used to support the agricultural development of the Global South.

Xi said China has been advocating universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and endeavoring to deliver on the Global Development Initiative.

"Our goal is to benefit all with the opportunity of development, to diversify development paths, to help all nations share development fruits, to encourage common development and prosperity for all countries in the global village, and to turn win-win into a solid consensus," he said.

Iqbal, from Pakistan, said developing countries need to develop according to their own resources, adding that China is on hand to offer support while this happens.

Cooperation programs help the countries involved become more confident, become masters of their own destiny, enable them to plan their own economic growth models, identify priority sectors and overcome domestic problems, she said. "This is how the world is going to prosper in the future," she said.

Iqbal's son, Mohammad Murtaza, who also works for the Pakistan government, accompanied her to the graduation ceremony in Beijing. She said he is trying to learn more about the Chinese language and Chinese culture.

"I wanted him to see how China is moving forward. I wanted him to see how these classmates from different countries support each other," Iqbal said, adding that "maybe he's a future student for China."