Seminar brings together parliament members from developing countries

China Daily Updated: 2023-07-07

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The 2023 Interregional Seminar on the Achievement of the SDGs for Parliaments of Developing Countries is held in Beijing, capital of China, on July 6. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

China is ready to work with other developing countries to build consensus on development, promote world economic recovery and sustainable development and enhance exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations via cooperation between legislative bodies, a senior legislator said on Thursday.

Shohrat Zakir, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, made the comment at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Interregional Seminar on the Achievement of the SDGs for Parliaments of Developing Countries.

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Guests attend the opening ceremony of the 2023 Interregional Seminar on the Achievement of the SDGs for Parliaments of Developing Countries in Beijing, capital of China, on July 6. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

Attendees from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Cambodia, Guyana, Honduras, Kiribati, Laos, the Maldives, Nigeria, South Africa, Suriname and Thailand attended the seminar.

Chinese modernization has expanded the options for developing countries to pursue modernization and provided a Chinese solution for mankind to explore a better social system. With over 1.4 billion people moving toward a modernized society in a peaceful and developmental way, China will surely bring stronger driving forces and broader opportunities to world economic growth, said Shohrat.

"We are ready to work with other developing countries to strengthen communication and exchanges, deepen practical cooperation, make the 'cake' of trade bigger, stimulate growth drivers for investment cooperation, promote innovation-driven development and advance the reform of global economic governance," he said.

Moosa Siraj, a member of parliament in the Maldives, said that this sort of seminar is good for improving the relationship between the developing countries and helping understand what each country is doing via learning from their experiences. For instance, China gives first priority to social and economic development to promote other aspects' development.

Moosa said that this is the second time he has visited China, which is not like some media reported, and he has learned about the country's transparent systems and democracy model.

"China now is the second largest economy in the world and its market is open to everyone," he said, adding that it is not certain media's portrayal that determines a country's image, but the people who live there understand what system is good for them.

Thembani MbadlNyana, a counselor of the Parliament of South Africa, said China's democratic model is based on its own history and reality and suits the needs of the Chinese people.

Other countries have no right to criticize China's choice of democracy, instead, he said, adding increasing mutual understanding could help them know China's way better.

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Guests pose for a group photo at the 2023 Interregional Seminar on the Achievement of the SDGs for Parliaments of Developing Countries in Beijing, capital of China, on July 6. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

After the three-day activities in Beijing, the delegation will visit Kunming in Yunnan province, Nanjing and Suzhou in Jiangsu province, and Shanghai to have an in-depth understanding of China's whole-process people's democracy and the practical experience of Chinese modernization.

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