China's position in the G20: Cooperation, humanism and solidarity

On Oct 30, the summit of the heads of state and government of the G20 countries began in Rome. The forum was also attended by the heads of international organizations, including the UN. The G20 members account for 60 percent of the world's population, 80 percent of global GDP and 75 percent of exports. In the Italian capital, they discussed climate, health, sustainable development and other issues of common concern.

Chinese President Xi Jinping participated via video link. This decision was made in connection with the pandemic. Although he was not physically present at the meeting, the Chinese leader managed to convey to participants his position and view of the pressing problems of today's world.

The topic of climate change and the fight against global warming is one of the main topics at this G20 summit. China's position on this issue is well known. At the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced it again. The Chinese leader stressed developed countries must fully take into account the special difficulties and concerns of developing countries, fulfill their commitments to finance the fight against climate change and provide developing countries with capacity-building technologies and other support. Xi also considers it important to achieve full implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change and increase the responsibility of individual countries for violation of the obligations assumed under this agreement.

China itself has never tried to set unattainable goals. The obligations the country assumes are proportional to its capabilities and national interests. China's goals are ambitious but realistic. China expects to peak CO2 emissions before 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.Speaking at the summit, Xi stressed China will work with all countries to follow the path of green, low-carbon and sustainable development.

Last July, China's Guizhou province hosted the Eco Forum Global Guiyang 2021, the main theme of which was the organization of a global campaign to significantly reduce the global carbon footprint. China is the largest energy producer and consumer in the world, with fossil fuels accounting for about 85 percent of China's total energy consumption. It is unrealistic to abandon traditional energy sources overnight; sudden movements in this direction will hit the economies of many countries.

Without abandoning traditional energy sources, China is gradually increasing its share of green energy. This is especially true of mountainous regions, where there is an abundance of sun and wind. Thus, the first solar power plant in Guizhou was commissioned in 2015, and is successfully operating in Yina township of Bijie city. The Wujiangyuan wind farm has made it possible to annually reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3.65 million tons, and sulfur dioxide by 119.9 thousand tons.

According to China’s National Energy Administration, by the end of 2020, over 40 percent of all installed electricity generation capacity in China came from renewable sources, providing about a third of national electricity consumption. Last year, the average utilization rate of wind and solar energy reached 97 and 98 percent, respectively. These are very promising indicators.

In addition, Xi repeated very important messages regarding COVID-19. The main points of China's position on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic are a scientific approach to the issue, mutual recognition of vaccines and cooperation. Xi called on the international community to work together to confront and defeat the pandemic using a scientific approach.

It is worth recalling the 13th BRICS Summit took place in September. At this summit, China, which will take over the presidency of the organization in 2022, showed everyone an example of solidarity by announcing a donation of another 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to developing countries. Earlier, China pledged to provide countries in need with 2 billion doses by the end of 2021 and offered $100 million for the implementation of the COVAX initiative. Xi announced Chinese vaccines would be treated as a global public good at the 73rd World Health Assembly in May last year. Last August, as part of this commitment, about 800 million doses of vaccines were already transferred to more than 100 countries, mainly developing countries. And to date, China has already provided over 1.6 billion doses of vaccine.

Xi also proposed a global vaccine cooperation initiative to G20 participants. This is a very important initiative that can facilitate the work of all countries in the fight against the pandemic, as well as help develop a common strategy in overcoming it. This initiative is relevant because mankind will have to live with the pandemic for a long time, and people will have to continue to be vaccinated. Most importantly, we cannot know what new viruses may appear in the near future. Therefore, it is important to take preventive measures to prevent the emergence of a dangerous new virus. Thus, a global initiative for vaccine cooperation is a panacea not only for the current pandemic, but also for new viruses.

In his speech, the leader of China also touched upon the topics of innovation and macroeconomic policy. After analyzing his speech, we can say China is aimed at cooperation and solidarity in solving world problems. Beijing continues to contribute to these processes, not only in words, but also in deeds, demonstrating a humanistic approach and the benefits of consolidation. Having overcome many difficulties, China has achieved great economic heights and continues to move toward the goal of prosperity not only for its people, but also for the peoples of other countries. Few countries understand this path as well as China does.

The author is director of the international expert club EurAsiaAz and editor-in-chief of Azerbaijani news agency Baku Tribune.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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