OREANDA-NEWS. President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao reaffirmed that ADB will deepen and widen the partnership with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at a symposium held in Shanghai today to commemorate the 30 years of ADB-PRC partnership. 

At the symposium, Mr. Nakao gave a keynote speech and participated in the opening panel discussion. 

Mr. Nakao remarked that right policies particularly the emphasis on infrastructure development enabled PRC’s rapid socioeconomic development, and ADB is happy to have been a partner of PRC’s transformation over the last 30 years together with other agencies. 

The symposium discussed PRC’s remaining and emerging development challenges, including the need for public finance reform, and efforts to achieve “ecological civilization” in which protection and promotion of good environment will be pursued while developing the “livable cities.” 

Referring to ADB’s new Country Partnership Strategy with PRC for the 2016-2020 period, coinciding with PRC’s 13th Five Year Plan, Mr. Nakao discussed that ADB and PRC can further deepen and widen the partnership in four areas: (i) ADB as a lender of financial resources to PRC; (ii) ADB and PRC as knowledge partners including sharing of PRC’s development experiences with other developing countries; (iii) ADB and PRC as partners in promoting regional cooperation and integration; and (iv) PRC as a financial contributor to ADB operations. 

Mr. Nakao noted that ADB aims to increase its lending to China, along with ADB’s total lending capacity. The five priority areas of the new Country Partnership Strategy are (i) environmental protection and climate change, (ii) promoting regional cooperation and integration, (iii) continuing efforts for inclusive development to address poverty and inequality, (iv) promoting innovation and knowledge-led development, and (v) supporting reforms and strengthening institutions.

As to PRC’s financial contributions, Mr. Nakao noted that PRC has more than doubled its contributions to the Asian Development Fund, which is ADB’s concessional resources from $45 million to $100 million in the recently concluded 12th replenishment negotiations.

During his 5-day visit to PRC, apart from his participation in the symposium, Mr. Nakao held talks with Shanghai and nearby Suzhou City officials, K.V. Kamath, President of the New Development Bank, and Jin Liqun, President of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Mr. Nakao also visited Suzhou Waste to Energy Project and Suzhou Creak Rehabilitation Project, and gave a lecture at Tongji University where ADB established an “urban knowledge hub” in 2010.

ADB, headquartered in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, ADB in December 2016 will mark 50 years of development partnership in the region. It is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2015, ADB assistance totaled $27.2 billion, including cofinancing of $10.7 billion.