Mr. President,

I wish to thank Gabon for its initiative to convene this important meeting. I welcome Foreign Minister Moussa-Adamo presiding over the proceedings. I thank Secretary-General Guterres and Chairperson Faki for their briefing.

In recent years, the African Union has been steering Africa’s development and revitalization, maintaining peace and stability on the continent, and firmly defending multilateralism, showcasing African strength and African wisdom. The strategic cooperation between the AU and the UN has been deepening. It has become one of the most dynamic and fruitful partnerships. During the general debate of this year's GA session, African leaders all called for continued and deepened solidarity and cooperation between the AU and the UN in a collective response to global challenges. China welcomes and supports further enhancement of UN-AU cooperation to better promote peace and development in Africa.

First, stepping up cooperation in maintaining peace and security in Africa. Traditional hotspot issues in Africa are heating up and challenges such as terrorist activities, arms trafficking, maritime security, and public health are on the rise. It is now even more imperative for the UN, the AU, and regional countries to work together to address them. Regional countries should uphold the notion of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, and promote national and regional security through dialogue and cooperation. UN peacekeeping operations should keep up with the evolving dynamics on the ground, collaborate the position of peacekeeping to accurately optimize the mandates and invest resources and energies in areas consistent with the needs of the countries concerned and the expectations of the local population. China is in favor of having more SRSGs on African hotspot issues coming from Africa. The Council should, for its part, support more African members serving as penholders on African issues. 

Second, bolstering cooperation to enhance capacity-building in Africa. To achieve long-term peace and security in Africa, we must find the right breakthrough points and the right focuses, and steadily scale up investment. Capacity-building is a key component of the effort. The Council held an open debate on capacity-building in Africa in August this year, and issued a presidential statement calling for support for African countries in strengthening capacity-building in areas such as governance, security, law enforcement, sustainable development, and training of human resources. Council members and the broader international community should work together to implement the outcomes of that meeting, and render more practical assistance for Africa's capacity-building.

The United Nations and the African Union signed the 10-year capacity-building programme for the African Union. The two organizations should continue to make capacity-building a pillar of cooperation, and support the AU in strengthening its capacity in conflict early warning, prevention, mediation, and preventive diplomacy. Funding shortages are key constraints on AU’s peace operation capacities. Secretary-General Guterres proposed to funding AU peace operations through the UN's regular budget or peacekeeping assessments. We believe this is an idea that merits serious consideration by the Security Council. Relevant UN agencies, peacekeeping missions, and resident coordinators should support African capacity-building in accordance with their respective mandates, in an effort to create synergy.

Third, we should increase our cooperation in promoting sustainable development in Africa. Development is what truly matters at the end of the day. Regions such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes, and Central Africa are grappling with both security risks and development difficulties. Without greater investment in development, it will be difficult to break the vicious cycle whereby poverty begets instability, and instability sends people back to poverty. 

During the high level week of the current GA session, China co-organized with African countries a ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative, announcing several results-oriented measures and proposing concrete actions in areas such as food security and clean energy. These measures are in line with Africa's development needs, and highly compatible with the UN Agenda 2063. China is ready to work with African countries to ensure early results of these measures so as to generate more resources and create better conditions for the sustainable development of African countries.

Fourth, we should increase cooperation in promoting international governance reform. As Africa is on the whole in the middle or lower end of the international industrial chain and supply chain, any spillover of global risks tends to bring about greater and more serious economic losses to Africa, resulting in the reversal of the development gains of those countries. The United Nations should take systematic measures to give Africa a greater say in the international governance system, and further reflect Africa's needs and interests in rule-making and resource allocation. The international community, especially developed countries, and international financial institutions should fulfill their duty in terms of development assistance and technology transfer, and should not reduce their attention to and investment in Africa because of other competing issues. In their cooperation with Africa, countries should adhere to openness, inclusiveness, and mutual benefit, and should not interfere in the internal affairs of African countries, let alone force them to choose sides.

Mr. President,

In its cooperation with Africa, China has been pursuing the greater good and shared interest and upholding the principle of sincerity, real results, amity, and good faith. China has been a firm supporter of and contributor to Africa's progress towards revitalization and prosperity. No matter how the international situation may change, China will always stand with African countries and with the United Nations, and contribute to Africa's lasting peace and common development.

Thank you, Mr. President.