Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced a $two billion fund to support South-South cooperation in addition to launching the "Six 100s" initiative to help the developing countries in poverty reduction, agriculture, trade, environment, health and education.
Continuing high-profile diplomacy during his current tour of the US, Xi told the UN Sustainable Development Summit here that China will set up the fund, with initial contribution of $2 billion to support South-South cooperation and assist developing countries in implementing their post-2015 development agenda. South Cooperation is the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries, also known as countries of the global South.
On Saturday, Xi announced $three billion <g data-gr-id="30">fund</g> to help developing countries combat climate change. Xi said China will also do its best to raise its investment in the least developed countries (LDCs) to $12 billion by 2030, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Sharing his view on the post-2015 development agenda, he called for an equitable, open, <g data-gr-id="29">all-round</g> and innovation-driven development path, stressing that no country should be left behind.
To that end, Xi put forward a four-point proposal on implementing the post-2015 development agenda and achieve win-win cooperation. All countries should enhance their development capacity, the environment for development should be improved, the development partnership between rich and poor countries should be optimised, and coordination mechanism for development should be strengthened, he said. The "Six 100s" initiative, declared at a South-South cooperation roundtable hosted by Xi, covers poverty reduction, agriculture, trade, <g data-gr-id="31">environment</g>, health and education, Xinhua reported.
He said China will make available to developing countries in the next five years 100 poverty reduction programs, 100 agricultural cooperation projects, 100 trade promotion programs, 100 environment protection and climate change programs, 100 hospitals and clinics, as well as 100 schools and vocational training centres.
Also during the period, Beijing will provide 120,000 opportunities and 150,000 scholarships for citizens of developing countries to receive training and education in China, and help nurture 500,000 professional technicians for the developing world, Xi added.
China will also set up an Academy of South-South Cooperation and Development, and provide $two million <g data-gr-id="24">aid</g> in cash for the World Health Organisation.