China marks 5-year anniversary of Global Development Initiative at Beijing summit

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed a high‑level meeting in Beijing that commemorated the five‑year anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s Global Development Initiative (GDI). The gathering, co‑hosted with United Nations agencies, highlighted the initiative’s growth from a Chinese proposal to a broad international consensus, with more than 130 countries and organisations now supporting it.

Wang outlined key achievements: over US$23 billion mobilised, more than 1,800 joint projects, training of over 200 000 individuals, and the establishment of the “Friends of the GDI” group now comprising 88 nations. He called for stronger multilateral cooperation, alignment with the UN 2030 Agenda, increased development financing, and the expansion of AI collaboration through the recently launched World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. The speech stressed China’s commitment to support developing nations with funding, technology and capacity‑building to address the widening global development gap.