ISTANBUL

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday urged the Global North to "actively address" unbalanced and inadequate development.

"The North and the South should work in concert," Li said during his address at the UN high-level meeting on the Global Development Initiative in New York, urging developed countries to "fulfill their obligations, give more consideration to the needs of developing countries and actively address unbalanced and inadequate development."

"Behind the growing North-South development gap in recent years are the inequalities and inequity in rights, opportunities and rules," said Li.

"Certain developed countries" -- in apparent reference to the US, which has cut $1 billion in contributions to the UN so far -- "are reluctant to fulfill their pledges of development financing, and even cut off funding to global development institutions, which has seriously undermined North-South cooperation," said Li.

“The overarching trends of multipolarity and economic globalization are irreversible,” said Li.

“Decoupling, severing supply chains and bloc confrontation would only hurt the global economy, disrupt global order and create greater risks,” he added, as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs impact economies worldwide.

Li urged the global community to “jointly safeguard the UN-centered international system, uphold multilateralism and free trade, build an open world economy, and promote global development that is more dynamic.”

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, in his remarks during the meeting, called for a push to "reform the United Nations and multilateralism as a whole."

He called for utilizing "existing forums to strengthen consultations among the Global South to enhance solidarity and encourage collaboration."

China also proposed a 5-phased AI+ International Cooperation Initiative during the meeting.

Li put forward five phases: running an "AI+ public well-being" campaign to improve people's quality of life, an "AI+ technological advancement" campaign for improved dynamism of global innovation, an "AI+ industrial application" campaign for new and old industries, an "AI+ cultural prosperity" campaign to promote exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations, and an "AI+ talents cultivation" campaign for future development and AI education.