The meeting was chaired by Elisabeth Svantesson, Chair of the Development Committee and the Minister of Finance of Sweden. Attendees included representatives from the Bank’s 25 constituencies, Bank President Ajay Banga, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. 

Lan Fo’an, China’s Minister of Finance and World Bank Governor for China, attended and addressed the meeting, accompanied by Liao Min, China’s Vice Minister of Finance and World Bank Alternate Governor for China. 

Participants of the meeting expressed strong support for the Bank in leveraging its financial and knowledge resources to mobilize private sector, focusing on key fields such as infrastructure, energy and manufacturing to create jobs in developing countries. They called on the Bank to accelerate the implementation of its Evolution Roadmap, boost operational efficiency, and expand development financing. They agreed that the Bank should make progress with its work on the 2025 shareholding review, in line with the Lima Principles. 

Lan said China appreciates the World Bank’s emphasis on employment promotion as a foundation to shake off poverty and achieve shared prosperity for developing countries. As President Xi Jinping pointed out, we should put more resources in promoting trade investment and development cooperation, speed up efforts to strengthen development institutions, and build more bridges of cooperation rather than “small yard, high fence”, so that more and more developing countries can raise their living standards and achieve modernization. Lan noted that the current trade protectionism poses a significant threat to global poverty reduction and development efforts, and he called on the Bank and other international organizations to uphold principles of non-discrimination and free trade, thereby safeguarding an open and cooperative international environment. 

Lan stressed that China is both a beneficiary of and a contributor to global economic integration, accounting for roughly 30 percent of global growth in recent years. In the face of a complex external environment, China will adopt a more proactive macroeconomic policy to meet its growth target for the year and continue to provide stability and momentum to the global economy. He reaffirmed China’s commitment to reform and opening-up as a basic State policy, and highlighted its zero-tariff treatment for all products from the least-developed countries having diplomatic relations with China. He added that China will further open its market to achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. 

On the sidelines of the meeting, Lan also attended the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable Ministerial Meeting, in which he exchanged views with other participants on addressing sovereign debt vulnerabilities and liquidity challenges in developing countries.