Premier Li Keqiang extended a congratulatory message to the first Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress, which kicked off in Beijing on Monday.

It is a shared pursuit for all countries to achieve a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, and bamboo and rattan resources have played a unique role in eliminating poverty, improving people’s livelihood, developing green economy and tackling the climate change, Li said in the message.

The congress is expected to build a vital platform for dialogues and exchanges among countries, and will help promote global preservation and use of bamboo and rattan resources, and contribute to the sustainable development of all countries, the premier said.

China attaches great importance to ecological civilization construction, and is persistent in putting into practice the concept of green development, and the concept of coexistence of mankind and nature, he said.

With a long history of cultivating and utilizing bamboo and rattan, China has a wide-ranging and profound culture in bamboo, said the premier.

China is ready to work with all other countries to promote the sustainable development of the bamboo and rattan industry in part of the efforts to deepen South-South cooperation, implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and build a clean and beautiful world, he added.