Xi meets Speaker Tulia, call for Global South solidarity

BEIJING: CHINESE President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China will, as always, support the National People’s Congress (NPC) in deepening exchanges and cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

President Xi made the remarks while meeting with Speaker of the Parliament and President of IPU Dr Tulia Ackson and other African parliamentary leaders in Beijing, China.

Dr Tulia is among parliamentary leaders from several countries attending the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of NPC’s affiliation to the IPU, as well as the 2024 interregional seminar on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for parliaments of developing countries in Beijing.

Xi welcomed the speakers’ visit to China, noting that they come from countries on different continents. “We are all members of the Global South,” he said.

Despite different national conditions, China and the countries are all good brothers and good partners with a shared vision, Xi added.

Noting that the current global landscape is rapidly evolving, Xi said China is willing to work with other countries to advocate an equal and orderly multi-polar world and an inclusive economic globalisation that benefits all, promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity and build the Earth into a harmonious family.

Exchanges between legislative bodies are an important part of state-to-state relations, Xi stressed, adding that legislative bodies should and are capable of playing an active role in forming state-to-state relations based on equality and mutual trust, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation for development, promoting open and inclusive exchanges and mutual learning, advancing global governance featuring fairness and equity and making unique contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Xi briefed the foreign parliamentary leaders on the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, which was held in mid-July.

He stressed that China’s unswerving commitment to high-level opening up will inject new momentum into the development of the world economy, provide new opportunities for deepening mutually beneficial cooperation and open up new prospects for the common development of developing countries.

China is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the legislative bodies of other countries to jointly explore modernisation paths suited to their own national conditions, Xi added.

He described the adherence to the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of the CPC and the commitment to developing whole-process people’s democracy as “major experience of China in achieving remarkable progress in governance.”

Apart from Dr Tulia other leaders included, Peter Katjavivi, speaker of Namibia’s National Assembly and Marinus Bee, Chairman of Suriname’s National Assembly, addressed the meeting on behalf of the foreign speakers.

Dr Tulia said the IPU has maintained long-term friendly and close cooperation with the NPC of China and thanked the Chinese side for its commitment to promoting unity, mutual trust, friendship and cooperation among parliaments of all countries, as well as its contribution to the development of various undertakings of the IPU and the implementation of the SDGs.

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As the largest developing country in the world, China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and made remarkable achievements in development, setting an example and providing important opportunities for other developing countries, they said.

The IPU president appreciated China’s stance of upholding fairness and justice in international affairs, advocacy of equality for all countries regardless of size and significant contributions to world peace, stability and common development, they said.

The leaders expressed appreciation for the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative proposed by China, pledging commitment to strengthening friendly partnerships with China, adhering to the one-China principle and jointly safeguarding multilateralism through close cooperation with China.