Beijing, 15 October 2024 – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner made his first official visit to China since the COVID-19 pandemic from October 9 to 15, 2024, to strengthen UNDP’s longstanding partnership with China, and expand cooperation on advancing the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
 
Steiner's visit came in the wake of the UN Summit of the Future in September, where world leaders adopted the Pact for the Future, pledging urgent actions to address global challenges and accelerate sustainable development. His visit to China also came in the lead up to three upcoming critical UN summits on biodiversity (COP16 in Columbia), climate change (COP29 in Azerbaijan), and desertification (COP16 in Saudi Arabia), where China’s role and commitments are expected to be pivotal in driving global action.
 
The official visit began with the virtual signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UNDP and the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), aiming to enhance international development cooperation and deepen the impact of collective efforts to advance SDG progress.
 
After arriving in Beijing, Steiner met with high-level government officials and senior leaders from the State Council, the National People’s Congress, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). These meetings recognized UNDP and China’s strong partnership over four and a half decades, and explored new avenues of cooperation in critical areas such as green transition, innovation and digital transformation, and SDG financing.
 
Steiner also attended the annual meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), an influential international advisory body that informs China’s environmental and sustainable development policies. Steiner has been a member of CCICED since 2001, and currently serves as Vice-chairperson, reflecting a longstanding commitment to fostering environmental cooperation between China and the international community.

Steiner said during his opening remarks at the CCICED that the challenges facing the world today are urgent, and collective action is imperative.

“So much depends on how we engage in 21st Century sustainable development as it will either define our way forward or drive us into a dead end,” said Steiner. “Through the China Council, we can signal to the world that not only can we learn from one another, we can actually help one another.”

During CCICED, Steiner met with Vice Premier DING Xuexiang, offering his congratulations on the Annual General Meeting and expressing UNDP’s interest in deepening collaboration with China on low-carbon development and increasing ambitions on advancing climate action.
 
Steiner also attended the opening of the 2024 National Evaluation Capacities Conference (NEC). The global forum, organized biennially by UNDP’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), aims to enhance global monitoring and evaluation capacities for sustainable development. This year’s conference, co-hosted by CIDCA, marked its 8th iteration and the first time it was held in China.
 
"We must a choose a different path, and we cannot afford to ignore lessons from the past. Strong evaluation systems are crucial tools for governments to reflect on successes and failures, respond to the needs of their citizens and ultimately reach their development objectives,” said Steiner in his remarks.
 
On the sidelines of the conference, Steiner met with XIAO Jie, Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. He congratulated him on China hosting the NEC, and reaffirmed UNDP’s commitment to further building on and expanding the scale of UNDP-China strategic partnership to strengthen SDG impact.
 
The official program of his visit also included a meeting with Vice Premier H.E. He Lifeng, during which Steiner reiterated UNDP’s hope to scale-up cooperation with China on sustainable green development and jointly deliver on the Pact for the Future.
 
Steiner concluded his China visit in Shanghai, where he met with the Shanghai Municipal Government to discuss collaboration on fostering increased sustainable investments that drive low-carbon and inclusive economic growth, as well as leveraging innovation for the SDGs and green transition. He also visited the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange and Shanghai Data Center, where he discussed collective efforts with UNDP on financing for biodiversity, exploring technology-powered development solutions, and hopes for further partnership moving forward.