Wang Xuexian, former Chinese ambassador to South Africa, speaks about China's "One Belt, One Road" economic strategy having a strong cultural association at a conference at the United Nations Tuesday in New York.

Culture has an important role to play in economic development and Wang Xuexian, former Chinese ambassador to South Africa, said China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative is an economic strategy that also contains a strong cultural component.

"Put people at the center of this process," he told an audience Tuesday at the UN in New York attending Culture as an Enabler of Sustainable Development: Contributions of Cultural Diversity and Cultural Exchanges in Advancing the Post-2015 Development Agenda, sponsored by the China Energy Fund Committee and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

While economic development is a valuable tool used to mitigate unemployment and poverty, it must also include culture, which enables a common pursuit of sustainable development, noted Patrick Ho Chi-ping, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the China Energy Fund Committee, a non-governmental, non-profit civil organization that also serves as a think tank engaged in energy strategy research and public diplomacy.

On Monday the China Energy Fund Committee explained the value in China's Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, also called the One Belt, One Road initiative.

It's an economic development plan designed to stimulate development among the countries along the old Silk Road and to economically link Asia, Europe and Africa.

Wang, a former Chinese diplomat to the UN, said the initiative "is a road of openness and inclusiveness. All the culture in the region must be respected".