On July 6, 2022, the unveiling ceremony of the China-Caribbean Development Center was held in Jinan, Shandong Province. Secretary Li Ganjie of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee attended and addressed the ceremony. Vice Minister Xie Feng of the Chinese Foreign Ministry attended and addressed the event via video link. Diplomatic envoys of Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and Bahamas, among others, attended the event in both on-line and off-line format.
In his address, vice minister Xie Feng stated that at the 76th UNGA in September 2021, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Development Initiative, calling on the international community to pay attention to the special difficulties of developing countries and to jointly facilitate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which has been warmly responded to and supported by the international community including the Caribbean countries. To enhance development cooperation between China and Caribbean countries, at the Third Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum held in December 2021, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the decision to establish the China-Caribbean Development Center. The Center will focus on development issues of great interest from the Caribbean side. Through intensified exchanges between governments, institutions of higher learning, media and think tanks, and by various means such as material donation, technical support, personnel training, and academic research, a number of high-standard, sustainable, and practical cooperation projects will be launched to bring more benefits to people of the Caribbean.
Xie pointed out that development is the eternal theme of human society. For people of various countries, development represents dignity and rights where survival and hope hinge upon. Not long ago, President Xi Jinping chaired the High-Level Dialogue on Global Development and delivered an important address. Important consensus came out of the meeting for developing countries to build strength to promote international development cooperation and implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Xie stressed that facing challenges and hope in the new era, the destinies of China and the Caribbean have never been so closely linked. The launch of the China-Caribbean Development Center is an epitome of the joint efforts to implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Development Initiative. It is another milestone in our joint journey toward shared prosperity and development, and a great gift for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the Caribbean. China is ready to work with friends of the Caribbean to make a success of the new platform of the China-Caribbean Development Center to build an even closer China-Caribbean Community with a Shared Future.
