President Xi Jinping pledged on Tuesday China's active support for UNESCO and expressed the nation's commitment to deepening strategic cooperation with the United Nations agency to better benefit people worldwide.

He made the remarks during a meeting in Beijing with Khaled El-Enany, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. This marked El-Enany's first official visit to China since taking office in November.

During the talks, Xi noted that UNESCO has made significant contributions toward enhancing mutual understanding and trust among the peoples of different countries and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. The UN agency has also played an active role in reforming and enhancing global governance in education, science and culture, he added.

Xi emphasized that the world's prevailing trend of peace, development, cooperation and win-win interactions remains unchanged, but with the resurgence of the Cold War mentality, hegemonism and unilateralism, global governance has come to a new crossroads.

He reaffirmed China's commitment to practicing true multilateralism, supporting and upholding the authority of the UN, and supporting UNESCO in playing an important role in global governance.

He said that China is ready to work with UNESCO to implement the four global initiatives proposed by China — the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative — enable people of all countries to share in the progress in education, science and culture, better respond to the common challenges facing human society, and jointly build a community with a shared future for humanity.

Xi called on the two sides to deepen cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, open science and digital education, advocate for respecting the diversity of world civilizations, and strengthen cooperation with Global South countries.

El-Enany expressed his gratitude for China's long-standing and strong support for UNESCO, saying that he expects to bring all member states together, promote dialogue, cooperation, mutual understanding and mutual learning among cultures, and build a UNESCO dedicated to serving humanity.

He said that UNESCO looks forward to continuing to strengthen collaboration with China to improve global educational and cultural development, promote exchanges in science and technology, deepen cooperation on AI, jointly implement the four global initiatives, and bring greater benefits to humanity.

Also on Tuesday, El-Enany met with Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi and a UNESCO special envoy for the advancement of girls' and women's education.

Peng praised UNESCO for its crucial role in promoting global education for girls and women, and highlighted China's achievements in this area. She affirmed her commitment to her responsibilities as a special envoy, and expressed her readiness to enhance collaboration with UNESCO to further advance education for girls and women worldwide.

El-Enany spoke highly of Peng's outstanding contributions since assuming her role as a special envoy, and said that UNESCO is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with China to drive new progress in girls' and women's education globally.

jihaisheng@chinadaily.com.cn