China's development experience will help it facilitate global cooperation between the North and the South to tap opportunities and overcome shared challenges, an official with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.
Rebeca Grynspan, associate administrator of the UNDP, said she considers China "an important partner for bridging between developed and developing countries." She made the remarks while addressing the Global Governance Policy Forum, which was held in Beijing on Monday.
The country is experiencing several stages of development at the same time, she said, as some regions can rival developed nations while others still battle poverty. This enables China to understand global problems from different perspectives.
She also called for a greater say to be given to China and other developing countries, as the rise of emerging economies and their geopolitical importance have earned them an increasingly crucial role.
Against the global economic headwinds, emerging economies have outrun their richer counterparts in terms of growth rate.
Trade between developing countries has accounted for 20 percent of global trade and is still growing by 12 percent year on year, she said in the speech.
By 2016, emerging markets will produce around 40 percent of world output, she said, quoting an International Monetary Fund (IMF) prediction.
"A new role must be defined for developing countries, not as recipients of prescriptions and solutions, but as active partners in the process of formulating and implementing policies with global reach," she added.
International organizations have already embarked on the "definition," as the IMF increased the quota of 54 countries in 2011, placing Brazil, Russia, India and China among the top 10 shareholders and enhancing low-income countries' decision-making at the executive board.
Grynspan said this is a step in the right direction.
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