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Statement by H.E. Ambassador Wang Min, Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations at the General Debate of the Second Committee of the 67th Session of the General Assembly

2012-10-09 05:16
 

Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, I would like to congratulate Your Excellency on your election as the chairman of the Second Committee of the current session of the GA. The Chinese delegation will cooperate closely with you and other members of the bureau for the successful and timely completion of the work assigned to this committee. China associates itself with the statement made by Algeria on behalf of the G77 and China.

Mr. Chairman,

Over the past five years, the international financial crisis has severely impacted global development. The world economic growth is anemic;some countries are confronted with complex and difficult sovereign debt problems; unemployment rate remains high throughout the world; hence there is a serious lack of impetus for development. With the noticeable slump in international trade growth and the rise of trade protectionism, the developing countries find themselves faced with an ever deteriorating external development environment characterized by a downturn of external demands and mounting external debt burdens. In 2011, the volume of ODA decreased for the first time since 1997 and the serious shortage of development resources puts the global development partnership under a major test. As the challenges of climate change and food and energy security remain formidable, the path towards sustainable development is long and difficult.

At present, the international cooperation for development is at a crossroads and the UN development agenda has entered a crucial bridging period. In June this year, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) reached a series of consensus on advancing the cause of sustainable development. The quadrennial comprehensive policy review of UN operational activities is in full swing and the formulation of post 2015 development agenda has also been put on the agenda. The international community should engage in in-depth reflection and take stock of past successes and failures, carefully plan the future of international cooperation for development, explore effective approaches to deal with global challenges and join hands to revitalize the multilateral development agenda and achieve sustainable development. For this purpose, the Chinese delegation believes that the current session of the GA should focus its attention in the following aspects:

First, we should mobilize the political will of the international community and expedite the implementation of the MDGs. According to the annual report of the UN MDG Gap Task Force, last year the progress in attaining the MDGs was slow and for the first time there are signs of backsliding on certain key dimensions. That will make it more difficult to achieve the MDGs on time in 2015. The international community should have a greater sense of urgency. The developed countries, in particular, should effectively honor their commitments in financial assistance, technology transfer and capacity building and focus on helping developing countries, especially the LDCs, with their efforts for development and poverty eradication. The economic and financial crisis should not serve as an excuse for the reduction of ODA resources. Countries should continue to strengthen the coordination of macro-economic policies, minimize the negative spillover effect of measures taken to tackle the crisis, restrain trade protectionism and push the world economy toward stable recovery and sustained growth, thus creating a favorable external environment for the development of the developing countries.

Secondly, the United Nations must play a central role in promoting and strengthening global economic governance. Although some progress has been made in the reform of the international financial system, the deeper issues have not been solved. China supports the UN in playing a greater role in international economic affairs. The UN should strengthen dialogue and coordination with multilateral financial institutions such as the Bretton Woods institutions and the G20 with a view to pushing for deeper reform of the international financial system and further increasing the voice and representation of developing countries so as to establish a fair, just, inclusive and orderly international monetary and financial system. It is necessary to strengthen the regulation of international financial institutions and "shadow banks" in order to make the financial system better serve and promote the development of real economy. International financial institutions should also be prompted to reinforce their functions for development and poverty eradication. We call for expediting the Doha round of trade negotiations to push for the establishment of a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory international trade system.

Thirdly, we should accelerate the implementation of the Rio+20 outcome and revitalize the global sustainable development agenda. Rio+20 reaffirmed the Rio principles, especially the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities", and established poverty eradication as the core of the future sustainable development agenda. This should guide the current session of the GA in actively implementing the outcome of the Conference through an inclusive, open and transparent intergovernmental process. We call for the early establishment of an open working group in accordance with the principle of equitable geographical distribution to put forward balanced and pragmatic recommendations on the formulation of a set of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). At the same time, the intergovernmental high-level political forum on sustainable development and the discussion on sustainable development financing strategy should be initiated as soon as possible in order to strengthen the institutional building for sustainable development and put in place the means of implementation in terms of resources and technology. We hope that developed countries will demonstrate political sincerity to further cut emissions, conclude the negotiation on the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol at this year's Doha Climate Change Conference and earnestly fulfill their financial and technology transfer commitments.

Fourthly, we should set our sight on the post 2015 development agenda and consolidate the development partnership. In recent years, a large group of developing countries have scored rapid development and become an active force for world economic growth. However, they still face tremendous challenges in poverty eradication and sustainable development. The international responsibilities born by the developing countries should be commensurate with their level of development and actual capacity. While South-South cooperation has great potentials, it can only complement rather than replacing North-South cooperation. The two kinds of cooperation are different in nature, modality and responsibilities. The post 2015 development agenda should stick to the existing framework of development cooperation, carry on the successful experience of the MDG implementation, focus on making up the inadequacies in the means of implementation and strengthen the global development partnership. Meanwhile, it should avoid diluting the theme of development by covering too many aspects.

Mr. Chairman,

Since the beginning of the international financial crisis, China has managed to maintain a relatively rapid growth and at the same time substantially increased funding for international financial institutions, extended a helping hand to developing countries and increased its purchase of bonds of developed countries, thereby making its contribution to the stabilization of the international economic and financial situation and the promotion of the economic and social development of the countries concerned. We have the confidence, means and ability to maintain steady and robust growth and achieve long-term, sound and sustainable development. At the same time, China will continue to try its best to fulfill its due responsibilities and obligations and, together with other member states, endeavor to promote the sustained recovery and growth of the world economy and attain the MDGs on time so as to push the global sustainable development to a new level.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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