Siddharth Chatterjee, who just concluded his five-year term as the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in China on Sunday, has said that China's development has created growing opportunities for the world.
In an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG), Chatterjee said his time in China offered him a lens into how the country's development has shaped lives around the country.
"It has been the most satisfying, gratifying and the greatest honor in my career to have worked in China. So I have traveled very widely in China, down to some of the remotest counties and provinces. One thing that I've come across the entire country is a shared dignity. There's a sense of pride and dignity of how they have achieved what they have achieved from nothing, virtually nothing," he said.
Chatterjee noted that China plays an important role at the UN. Over the past five years, he said, the UN and China have built strong mutual trust and carried out effective cooperation.
He highlighted China's rural revitalization strategy as a landmark success, adding that the UN has shared relevant experience with other countries.
"I would say for sure the rural revitalization initiative is a landmark case of success and I think that is something which we often like to share with other parts of the world. I believe combating desertification -- have you been to the Kubuqi Desert in inner Mongolia? It's a textbook case of fighting deserts and not only is it that, the progress, the prosperity that has come there would have been impossible without going on to the green transition. They produce 3.2 gigawatts of electricity through photostatic, solar and windmills. They are able to utilize the ground and use that to grow fresh crops and vegetables and fruits, etc, and their livestock. As a result, the quality of the life of the people have improved. I believe many parts of the world which are experiencing desertification can learn a lot from this," he said.
He also expressed confidence in the success of China's forthcoming 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), suggesting that this form of governance could benefit countries around the globe.
"China's five-year plans are a good model for many other countries, but the most important thing is that you could have five-year plans, but if they are not implemented, there is no point. So I think this is the way, probably, many countries can learn how to implement those five-year plans, because what I have seen is the level of accountability from top to down, everybody is on the same rhythm of implementation. The other thing which I would say is very, very important is a vision that must have a finite time line. A vision should not just remain a vision and then be forgotten about. Now, China has a clear vision of what it wants to achieve by 2035. Everything has gathered together to achieve that vision. It has a clear vision of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality by 2030 and 2060. Everything is converging in that direction. So I see incredible opportunities for further having this as a multiplier effect, not only for China's own progress, but China's influence to help others progress at the same time," he stated.
China's development helps drive shared global progress: UN official
