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Beijing, November 27, 2024 – Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is celebrating 20 years of working with China to combat climate change and protect biodiversity.
Following the COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, AFD's Chief Executive Officer, Rémy Rioux, accompanied by Member of Parliament Corentin Le Fur, visited China and signed several agreements to strengthen cooperation with Chinese stakeholders in climate finance. This included a pioneering framework agreement for co-financing with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), of which France is a member.
AFD in China: climate and now biodiversity as priorities
The world's third-largest country, China is one of 18 mega-diverse countries that together hold two-thirds of the planet's biological diversity, with several biodiversity hotspots. The country covers seven climate zones and is home to one eighth of all terrestrial plant and wildlife species.
Initially focused on the fight against climate change, AFD's activities have gradually evolved to include biodiversity, in line with France and China's international commitments. Today, China is AFD's leading biodiversity portfolio in terms of volume.
To mark this 20th anniversary, AFD CEO Rémy Rioux, alongside French Member of Parliament Corentin Le Fur, hosted over 200 Chinese partners (project sponsors and local authority representatives) from 18 provinces and municipalities at the French Residence, alongside Liao Min, Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Finance, and Bertrand Lortholary, French Ambassador to China.
Engaging Chinese banks in climate finance
As a member of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) and the initiator of the Finance in Common (FiCS) network that brings together all public development banks, in recent years AFD has reinforced its partnerships with Chinese development and climate finance stakeholders. The aim is to redirect financial flows toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
During his visit, Rémy Rioux signed two cooperation protocols – one with Export–Import Bank of China and the other with China Development Bank. These agreements aim to facilitate experience sharing and enable co-financing between AFD and Chinese public development banks, adhering to international standards.
Another highlight of the AFD CEO's visit to China was a high-level conference on development finance architecture and the role of public development banks in green finance, organized with Peking University. This first-of-its-kind conference in China gathered AFD, AIIB, and the three Chinese public development banks. Following the COP29, it underscored the essential role of public financial institutions in building the global financial architecture necessary to meet climate challenges.
An unprecedented multilateral agreement
This visit also saw the signing of a pioneering framework agreement for co-financing between AFD and AIIB by Rémy Rioux and AIIB President Jin Liqun. This ambitious and innovative agreement ensures mutual recognition of procedures and reciprocal delegation of tasks. It marks AFD's first such agreement with a multilateral development bank and AIIB's first with another public development bank. It will facilitate more effective operational cooperation for sustainable development in the partner countries of both institutions, with alternation in leading co-financing projects.
“AFD has witnessed China’s emergence as a major player in development and climate finance. We firmly believe that it is through effective cooperation and the adherence to international standards that sustainable development finance can have large-scale impact and meet global challenges. The United Nations’ International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville will be an opportunity to drive the redirection of all financial flows toward the SDGs and build the overarching architecture for all public development banks,” stated Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of AFD.
“AFD is a tool for bilateral cooperation. Today, aligned with the priorities of our shared agenda, it focuses on protecting global commons such as biodiversity and climate. Both our countries recognize the magnitude of global challenges. We must continue to demonstrate, through multilateral cooperation that, together, we can positively contribute to our planet’s future,” added Bertrand Lortholary, French Ambassador to China.
About AFD Group
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group finances, supports and accelerates the transitions necessary for a more just and resilient world. It thus contributes to implementing France’s policy on sustainable development and international solidarity. It is with and for communities that we build, with our partners, solutions in more than 160 countries, as well as in 11 French overseas departments and territories.
Our objective: to reconcile economic development with the preservation of common goods: the climate, biodiversity, peace, gender equality, education and health. Our teams are involved in more than 3,600 projects in the field, which are part of the commitment of France and the French people to fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals. For a world in common.
AFD contacts: Charlotte Layo (+66 6 2507 5538 / layoc@afd.fr) / Carine Viac (+33 6 6027 0663 / viacc@afd.fr)