Chinese premier meets ADB president

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in Beijing on Tuesday.

Li said that the ADB is a vital multilateral development institution in the Asia-Pacific region, playing a positive role in promoting poverty reduction and development in the region and responding to regional and global challenges.

China is ready to work with all parties, including the ADB, to deepen practical cooperation, make a greater contribution to the sustainable recovery, prosperity and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, and inject more impetus into world economic development, Li said.

He pointed out that China is comprehensively promoting Chinese modernization and striving to promote high-quality development, and there is broad space for cooperation with the ADB in the future. He said it is hoped that the ADB will continue to support and participate in China's reform and opening up, and focus on key areas such as environmental protection as well as green and low-carbon development.

Li said China actively supports the ADB in addressing climate change and looks forward to ADB's further mobilization of climate finance to help developing members enhance climate adaptation and financing capacity and promote the transition to green and low-carbon development.

"We hope that multilateral development institutions, including the ADB, will actively call on developed countries to take the lead in fulfilling their emission reduction responsibilities and fulfilling their financial and technical support commitments to create necessary conditions for developing countries to cope with climate change and achieve sustainable development," he added.

Masatsugu Asakawa said the ADB has established a strong and close cooperative partnership with China, and China is the main contributor to Asia-Pacific economic growth.

He said the ADB supports China's high-quality development and is willing to strengthen cooperation with China on knowledge creation, green development, and climate change response.■