BRUSSELS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Fabrizio Hochschild, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, has emphasized the crucial need for global cooperation to identify common interests and prevent conflicts, while highlighting China's leadership in this process.

"We are living in an ever more fragmented world with greater polarization between East and West, North and South," Hochschild said during an exclusive interview with Xinhua. He added that cooperation among big countries as opposed to polarization is absolutely critical now.

"By focusing on the upsides of working together, we can better overcome risks and downsides," he said.

Hochschild said China's success in poverty reduction, which is "incredible" and "a monumental achievement", can bring tangible benefits to other countries through cooperation.

Hochschild underscored China's significant role in the global economy, citing that China is the largest exporter in the world and one of Europe's largest trade partners. China is the second-largest economy in the world and still growing at a pace faster than most industrialized economies, he said.

"What is worrying is that this (China's role) is being treated less as healthy competition with an element of cooperation but more as a threat, with trade barriers and tariffs coming in," he said.

Thus, Hochschild emphasized the need for cooperation again, especially in the area of new technologies.

"Cooperation is needed to put adequate guardrails in place for new technologies," he said. "Technologies don't recognize borders, so international cooperation on norm-setting and policies is essential."

He added that Chinese exports of green energy tools have been critical in helping other countries maintain or promote the transition to clean energy use. ■