Joint building of Belt and Road highlighted

New Development Bank

President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that China welcomes the New Development Bank to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative in an effort to assist in the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and help more developing countries achieve modernization.

He made the remarks during a meeting in Beijing with Dilma Rousseff who assumed her post in March as president of the multilateral development bank, which was established in 2015 by BRICS, the grouping of emerging economies that currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Xi told Rousseff that China will continue to support the work of the Shanghai-headquartered NDB and facilitate her work in the country.

Recalling the signing of the agreement to establish the NDB during the BRICS Summit in Brazil in 2014, Xi said the bank has achieved remarkable results in recent years and has continued to grow.

Against the backdrop of intertwined risks and crises in today's world, the NDB should play its due role as an important emerging force in the international financial system, he said.

Xi urged the bank to make the global financial system more just and equitable, and effectively enhance the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries, thus building itself into a new type of multilateral development institution in the 21st century.

Rousseff said it is necessary for all countries to address common challenges with collective action amid the current international situation. Strengthening infrastructure construction and connectivity is crucial for developing countries to achieve common development, she said.

She noted that there has never been such an initiative as the BRI that can bring together more than 150 countries. The initiative and the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will play a crucial role in global sustainable development and green growth, she added.

The bank shares similar principles and concepts with the BRI and is willing to actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation and make due contributions to world multipolarity and the reform of the international financial system, she said.

MO JINGXI