On October 16, 2023, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road initiative, the high-level steering committee meeting of the United Nations Global Compact "Sustainable Infrastructure Construction Helps the Belt and Road Action Platform" was held in Beijing Yanqi Lake International Conference Center. At the invitation of the United Nations Global Compact Organization, Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile And Apparel Council and Chairman of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), was added as a member of the high-level steering committee of the action platform at this meeting. About 20 representatives attended the meeting, including the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, Director General of the United Nations Global Compact, Sanda Ogabe, the United Nations coordinator in China, Chang Qide, Zhai Dongsheng, Director of the "the Belt and Road" Construction Promotion Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, and members of the high-level steering committee of the "the Belt and Road" action platform.

Director General Sanda Ogabe pointed out in his speech that the Belt and Road initiative has played an important role in boosting the vitality of the global economy since it was put forward ten years ago. The United Nations Global Compact officially launched the multi-stakeholder platform of "sustainable infrastructure construction contributes to the 'the Belt and Road' and accelerates realizing sustainable development goals." With this platform, the United Nations Global Compact encourages enterprises around the world to pay attention to economic, social, and environmental impacts in the process of participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, incorporate the "Ten Principles of the Global Compact" into enterprise strategies and operations, and accelerate the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally. She also hoped that all participants would fully use the platform to guide and support enterprises to address sustainable development challenges under the Belt and Road initiative and promote the early realization of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In his speech, Mr. Chang Qide said that over the past 10 years, the joint construction of the Belt and Road has been committed to promoting economic growth, regional integration, and cultural exchanges around the world, bringing a large number of visible development achievements to the joint construction countries, and demonstrating China's leadership and determination in promoting the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He hoped that all parties would take the opportunity of deepening the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road to carry out more extensive and in-depth cooperation around sustainable development. He also stressed that the success of the Belt and Road initiative could not be separated from the guidance and support of the Chinese government, the benign interaction of enterprises in various countries, and even more from the effective convergence of international parties at the strategic and policy levels.

So far, five international organizations have collaborated with the United Nations Global Compact to establish institutional partnerships with action platforms, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNSSC), African Union Development Agency New Partnership for Africa's Development (AUDA-NEPAD), and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). At the same time, the action platform is guided and consulted by a high-level steering committee, which is composed of about twenty high-level representatives from various countries and sectors, including representatives from governments and multilateral institutions, businesses, academic and research institutions, non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations, and youth representatives.

President Sun pointed out in his speech that China's textile and clothing industry is one of the earliest industries in China to implement the "going out" policy, and it is also the earliest industry to systematically carry out corporate social responsibility work and practice the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact. He happily recalled the continuous and close cooperation between the China National Textile And Apparel Council and the United Nations Global Compact since 2005, including representing the industry for the first time at the Global Compact Leaders Summit held in Shanghai in 2005, six months after the establishment of the Social Responsibility Office of the China Textile Industry Association; In 2008, the China National Textile And Apparel Council became the first industry organization in China to join the Global Compact; In 2011, the China National Textile And Apparel Council deeply participated in the development process of the "Children's Rights and Business Principles" initiated by institutions such as the Global Compact; In 2021, amidst the raging pandemic, the China National Textile And Apparel Council collaborated with the Global Compact to provide ESG performance improvement training and other milestone events based on the ten principles of the Global Compact to dozens of Chinese textile and clothing enterprise managers investing in Ethiopia.

President Sun believed that when the social responsibility work footprint of China's textile and clothing industry has been implemented on several continents in Asia, Africa, and Latin America along with the Belt and Road initiative, the high-level steering committee of the "the Belt and Road" action platform of the Global Compact was included as the representative of China's textile and clothing industry, marking the cooperation between China's textile and clothing industry and the Global Compact to promote the implementation of the ten principles, and contributing to a new starting point for achieving the global sustainable development goals. He also looks forward to sincere cooperation with members of the Steering Committee to better implement the ten principles of the Global Compact in the Belt and Road initiative, achieve the goal of sustainable development, and build a community with a shared future for mankind!

At the meeting, Dima Alhatib, Director of the United Nations Office for South South Cooperation, Li Changhui, Director of the China and Mongolia Bureau of the International Labour Organization, Special Envoy for China Affairs of the Chairman of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Sterling, Director of the East Asian Representative Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Yang Minde, Chairman of the Yida Group, Zhuang Jia, Deputy Director of the China Center for Science and Technology Exchange, Professor of Practice at Cheung Kong Business School, and member of the Temasek Board of Directors Fu Chengyu, former director of the United Nations Global Compact, chairman of Xiamen Airlines, director of the United Nations Global Compact, Zhao Dong, senior consultant of the Global Mobile Communications System Association, former chairman of China Mobile Communications Group, chairman of the Asia Pacific "the Belt and Road" Joint Policy Conference, former minister of the Ministry of Transport of Malaysia, former vice president of the People's Bank of China, Li Dongrong, director of the International Research Center for Sustainable Development Big Data Guo Huadong, academician of the CAS Member, Lu Mai, former vice president of the China Development Research Foundation, former secretary-general of the China Development Forum, Zhao Changwen, director of the China International Development Knowledge Center, Wang Zhile, former director of the Beijing New Century Multinational Corporation Institute and member of the expert group of the tenth principle of the United Nations Global Compact, and other members of the high-level steering committee made speeches successively.

Liu Meng chaired the meeing, the General Representative of the United Nations Global Compact Organization for the Asia Pacific region. Yan Yan, Director of the Office for Social Responsibility of CNTAC, and Liang Xiaohui, Chief Researcher of the Office for Social Responsibility of CNTAC, attended the meeting as observers.