"Strengthening cooperation" highlighted in report released to address global common challenges

China's Center for International Knowledge on Development (CIKD) has released its Global Development Report 2024, analyzing common challenges faced by the global community.

The report also explores strategies and solutions to address these issues, which include a weakened global economy and persistent poverty and food insecurity.

In a new period defined by turbulence and transformation, the world is facing major common challenges. Climate change has caused record-breaking extreme weather events. The world economy faces weakened growth. Challenges in areas such as poverty reduction and food security also remain.

"We need to strengthen the cooperation in the trade issues, in the development cooperate issues, and in the global governance issues. We need remove the barriers to trade, especially for the low-carbon technology trade. And we also need to increase multi-development bank resources," said Wang Jinzhao, Executive Vice President of the Center for International Knowledge on Development.

Strengthening cooperation is somewhat of a buzzword in this year’s Global Development Report, which focuses on green development, digital transformation, global health standards and more.

As an important product under the framework of China's Global Development Initiative, the report illustrates the country's contribution to promoting sustainable development across the world.

"China has played a major role in addressing challenges, in particular those faced by developing and least developed countries. Thus, reduction of poverty in China has also meant that China has become a major economy that has helped many other developing countries to develop through significant investment infrastructure and trade. So many developing countries actually benefit from the growth of China in economic terms," said Carlos Maria Correa, executive director of the South Center.

The report stresses that challenges and crises can generate new opportunities for cooperation in the hopes that new partnerships will lead to a better future for generations to come.

"Strengthening cooperation" highlighted in report released to address global common challenges

China posted steady economic growth in 2025 driven by fast-growing innovation strength and progress in green transition, according to a communique released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Saturday.

Primary calculation indicated that China's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025 increased by five percent year on year to reach a record of 140.1879 trillion yuan (about 20.44 trillion U.S. dollars), hitting the annual target, said the communique.

In breakdown, the value added of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries grew by 3.9 percent, 4.5 percent and 5.4 percent year on year, respectively.

Overall labor productivity stood at 184,413 yuan per capita, marking an increase of 6.1 percent over the previous year.

The country's new quality productive forces grew steadily in 2025, with the value added of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increasing by 9.4 percent year on year.

Specifically, the output of high-tech products such as service robots, memory chips and 3D printing equipment grew by 16.1 percent, 22.8 percent and 52.5 percent, respectively.

The country also made notable progress in the green and low-carbon transition, according to the communique.

Preliminary calculations showed that China's carbon dioxide emissions per 10,000 yuan of GDP decreased by 5.0 percent year on year in 2025.

The power generation from clean energy sources such as hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power reached 4.2481 trillion kilowatt-hours, up 14.4 percent from the previous year.

China's overall employment remained stable in 2025, according to the communique. The average surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent, lower than the target of around 5.5 percent, and 12.67 million new urban jobs were created.

Innovation, green transition highlights China's economic growth in 2025