UNDP chief lauds Shanghai as global innovation center for sustainable development

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Alexander De Croo on Thursday lauded Shanghai as the global innovation center for sustainable development while commending China's exemplary leadership in fostering South-South cooperation.

Highlighting Shanghai's status as a nexus for international cooperation, De Croo addressed the opening ceremony of the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE), which runs from Nov 5 to 10 in the city.

In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing, he called his Shanghai trip twice as significant, citing his attendance at the expo and the signing of an agreement to establish a new UNDP Global Centre for Sustainable Development.

"First of all, why Shanghai? Well, Shanghai is one of the leading innovation centers in the world, it has an incredible connectivity to the rest of the world. Shanghai is the biggest port in the world and really is a connector to the work that we do together with Chinese authorities in China, but really seeing as an opportunity to share it with the rest of the world. We have decided, together with the Chinese government, to open that center. It will be focusing on three elements. It will be focusing on the green transition. How can you make sure that the economic growth is not to the detriment of nature and of our natural resources? The second element is digital and AI transition. Technology is one of the greatest accelerators of development. The third topic is financing. Financing for development these days is not only coming from public financing, but is really today, the whole name of the game is how can you open it up for private financing," he said.

De Croo also highlighted China's far-sighted role in advancing sustainable development alongside the UNDP, as well as its pioneering expertise in South-South cooperation.

"Today, what we try to do is to see, okay, what are solutions that we have seen that work that are adapted to the needs and to the possibilities of countries in what you would classically call the Global South and how can we share those experiences in a more direct way? China really was a pioneer already in the 80s in our cooperation agreements that we had between UNDP and China. The concept of South-South cooperation was already there. And this is, for us, one of the very important ways in which expertise will be shared in the years to come," he said.

UNDP chief lauds Shanghai as global innovation center for sustainable development

Foreign officials attending this year's China International Import Expo (CIIE) have praised the event's scale and influence, saying the expo's size makes it a prime platform for reaching Chinese consumers.

Portugal's ambassador to China shared his appreciation for the event and the size of the Chinese market.

"China is a market that basically has an opportunity for every kind of product, any kind of trade. We want them to seek and find their opportunities in the big Chinese market. And we are very happy that China does this initiative, which is not very common, that a country makes a fair for imports," said Manuel Carvalho, Ambassador of Portugal to China.

Canada and Norway each have a national pavilion at this year's expo, with officials from both countries on hand to promote their businesses.

Martin Cauchon, vice chair of the Canada-China Business Council, noted Canada's special status at this year's event.

"Canada is the country of honor this year. We have record people getting involved and coming over to China to participate, we're talking about more than 120 businesses from Canada. And in being the country of honor, it has attracted more participants," said Cauchon.

"This is my first time here and my impression is that it's huge and it's also a very good place for a lot of companies from Norway to be here and promote themselves, and to also promote more trade between Norway and China. We have two pavilions. We have the national pavilion and we have the nutrition pavilion, as you can see here. And that's because Norway has a lot to offer, and especially maybe the oil that comes from the seafood, from the fish. And we see that this year, this is the biggest delegation we have from Norwegian side," said Cecilie Myrseth, Norway's minister of industry and commerce.

Launched in 2018, the CIIE is the world's first national-level expo dedicated to import, and has become an important gateway for foreign businesses seeking access to China's vast consumer and industrial markets. For this year, the exhibition is held from Nov. 5 to 10.

Foreign officials praise scale, influence of CIIE