China hosted a high-level dialogue at UN headquarters on Sept. 25 marking the fifth anniversary of the Global Development Initiative, which Xi Jinping proposed to the General Assembly in September 2021. Vice President Han Zheng read a letter from Xi calling development “the eternal theme of human society” and saying GDI projects are “taking root and yielding outcomes in more than 120 countries.” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and ministers from more than 30 countries attended, according to Xinhua, which put participation at some 300 representatives of more than 60 countries and 20 international organizations.

In his speech, Han said more than 130 countries and organizations support the initiative, which has mobilized $23 billion and carried out more than 2,000 projects and 10,000 training programs. He announced that China “will launch an engineering capacity building program to train 10,000 engineers for developing countries over the next five years” in transport infrastructure and information technology, will contribute to the China-UN trust fund for statistical capacity (important for gauging the effectiveness of programs), and will host the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Shanghai next April. He proposed cooperation in artificial intelligence, the digital economy, new energy, and disaster prevention. No outcome document was reported. The dialogue took place the day Xi’s state visit to Washington ended and the day before Han addressed the General Debate.