A Chinese envoy said Thursday that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has charted a new course for international cooperation.

"The Belt and Road Initiative has charted a new course for international cooperation, tapped new drivers for world economic growth, built new platforms for relations among countries, and created substantial amount of job opportunities for countries along the route," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told the UN General Assembly's high-level meeting to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

"The 82 overseas cooperative parks jointly built by China and the countries along the route have created nearly 300,000 jobs," he said.

Speaking of the second Belt and Road Forum on International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing in late April, the Chinese envoy said, "We're confident that this forum will further energize the 'Belt and Road' cooperation and make a greater contribution to the promotion of decent work for all."

Talking about the world of work, the Chinese ambassador said that it is undergoing significant changes. "The new technological revolution, climate change and demographic restructuring represent both great challenges and new opportunities for the labor market."

Ma encouraged the international community to seize the opportunities "that technological advances have brought to the world of work."

"New forms of business generated by new technologies are becoming a main driver for job growth. We need to promote the transformation of employment, develop a new pattern of employment and open up new space for employment through innovation," he said.

The Chinese ambassador called for efforts to push forward supply-side structural reforms and create more green jobs.

"It is necessary to implement an innovation-driven strategy, deepen structural reforms, transform the dividends of reform and innovation into more and higher-quality job opportunities, to ensure decent work for all," Ma said.

He also urged promoting "silver-hair" economy as an active response to population ageing.

"China supports the ILO's governance initiatives, supports the examination of standard supervisory mechanism reforms, and strives to extend the goals of decent work and social justice to the ILO's new centenary," said the ambassador.

The General Assembly held the two-day meeting on April 10 and 11 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ILO with "the Future of Work" as its theme.

Founded in Geneva of Switzerland in 1919, the ILO is a UN agency whose mandate is to advance social justice and promote decent work by setting international labor standards. It is the UN's first specialized agency, with 187 member states.

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