(Originally published on 06/16/2015)

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Beijing Hengchang Litong Investment Management Co. Ltd. (Hengchang). This agreement will see Hengchang provide support with investment to a UNDP-backed straw recycling project in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, as well support to UNDP’s work in China on poverty reduction and equitable development, including on inclusive finance.

UNDP China has through its Small Grants Programme been supporting a straw-recycling pilot project in Qinhuangdao with the Entrepreneurs Association of Qinhuangdao (EAQ), covering over 10,000 acres of farmland. Hengchang will offer assistance directly to the EAQ with the provision of low-interest loans to local farmers to help them expand their ability to recycle straw. It is hoped that this pilot project will yield policies and a business model that can be replicated across China to raise incomes and improve resource efficiency to protect the environment.

Hengchang will further support UNDP’s work to tackle poverty and ensure that the benefits of development are shared equitably in China. This portfolio includes initiatives to broaden access to financial services in parts of China where at present rural, ethnic minority and other groups struggle to access credit needed to grow businesses and improve livelihoods.

This partnership sees UNDP further cultivate its new role as a development partner rather than a donor in China, growing its relationships with government, the private sector, academia and civil society to increasingly provide expert technical and policy assistance to the country’s development process.

This partnership also comes in a pivotal year for international cooperation and development worldwide, with 2015 set to witness a series of global dialogues convened to produce milestone agreements that will shape our future for the next 15 years and beyond. In July Addis Ababa will host the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. This is followed by the 70th United Nations General Assembly in September, which will agree on the new set of Sustainable Development Goals that will guide global development until 2030. Later in December, world leaders will come together to agree on new commitments to Climate Change at the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris.