China and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) jointly launched a new South-South cooperation (SSC) project in Beijing on Tuesday, vowing to support China's efforts in promoting global SSC, especially encouraging Chinese private sectors to be further involved in the cause.

According to Khalid Malik, UN China Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, the project, "Promoting South-South Cooperation in the 21st Century", aims at scaling up China's SSC program through capacity building, networking and public-private partnership building.

The project comprises three inter-related components: internal coordination of various SSC programs implemented by various practitioners in China, and harmonization of policies, strategies and resources; an effective and efficient network with counterparts in other developing countries; engaging the private sector stakeholders, especially private enterprises to participateand even take the lead in SSC initiatives.

Wei Jianguo, Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce, addressed the launching ceremony that China always attaches importance to the South-South cooperation and regards it as a very important part ofChina's foreign policy, stressing that China is not only an active advocate of the SSC, but also a major participant of SSC programs.

Information from the UNDP showed that around 1.6 million US dollars would be poured into the project, and the project would be implemented by the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), the counterpart of the UNDP in China.

Apart from the CICETE, relevant Chinese ministries, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health would also take part in the project by implementing their owning programs concerning the SSC in various fields.

The international community has attached great importance to the SSC at a political level, but at a substantially economic cooperation level, an effective communication channel and cooperation mechanism are still absent, Wei pointed out, stressing that the SSC should be further developed in sectors of trade, investment and finance.

Wei revealed in reply to a reporter's question that China was to integrate policy resources of investment, credit and loans, and insurance among relevant departments under the framework of the project and create a better policy environment for Chinese enterprises, especially private enterprises, to directly participate in SSC investment programs.

Source: Xinhua