ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China's proposed Global Development Initiative (GDI), which reflects all of China's experiences and best practices, plays an essential role in global economic development, said Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Turkish Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies.
"China is playing a critical role in global economic development," Colakoglu said in a recent interview with Xinhua, adding that China has a great success story regarding economic development and has significant experience in national development.
"So the declared GDI reflects all these experiences and best practices of China, and Beijing is eager to share its experiences with other economies, particularly developing economies in the Global South," the expert said.
Colakoglu identified poverty eradication, green development, and high-technology development such as artificial intelligence as the main areas in which the GDI has contributed globally and carries potential for the future.
"One particular issue is the poverty eradication for the poor or developing Global South countries," the expert said.
In more than 40 years of its reform and opening-up, China has eradicated extreme poverty, lifted some 800 million people out of poverty, and brought more than 400 million citizens into the middle-income group.
"High-quality development is important for creating new jobs and promoting sustainable development," Colakoglu said. "So China's experiences are affecting strong sustainability in terms of economic development."
Colakoglu believed that when combined with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the GDI will continue to achieve great success in implementing many projects.
"The GDI has shown its implementation throughout the BRI, which is a good example of how the GDI will be implemented in the coming years," he added. ■
