(Photo by Mr. Xiaolei Niu, Xinhua News Agency)

Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, please allow me to congratulate you on your election the chairman of the Third Committee of the 68th Session of the General Assembly. I want to assure you and your bureau of the full cooperation and support of the Chinese delegation. We are convinced that, under your leadership, this session will be a full success. The Chinese delegation associates itself with the statement delivered by the Republic of Fiji on behalf of G77 and China.

The world economy is gradually moving out of the trough, but the negative impacts of the global financial crisis still linger on. The interweaving problems of regional turbulence and natural disasters, among others, constitute daunting challenges to countries in their social development. Hunger, disease and poverty are still jeopardizing many developing countries. International cooperation for development is at a crucial juncture of transition, which has brought fresh opportunities to countries in their endeavor for social development. China believes that the United Nations should pay greater attention to social development and focus on pushing forward its work in the following areas:

First, poverty eradication, social inclusion and full employment should be promoted in an integrated manner. China has taken note of the Secretary-General's reports under this item, including the one on promoting social integration through social inclusion. In our view, the three core objectives set by the Social Development Summit in this field, namely, poverty eradication, social inclusion and full employment, remain important guidance to this very date. The United Nations and its member states should push ahead with these three areas in a balanced manner, explore paths of social development suitable to their national conditions, continue to make poverty eradication a fundamental program for social development, take employment promotion as a primary objective of social development, and treat the elimination of discrimination and unjust treatment as an important component of inclusive growth, with a view to realizing development for all.

Second, practical measures should be taken to further the protection of vulnerable groups. In the post-crisis era, vulnerable groups such as the elderly and persons with disabilities find themselves in even worse situations and poverty in rural and remote areas has deteriorated. National governments should actively implement the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and the Outcome Document adopted a few days ago at the High-level Meeting of the 68th GA on the Realization of the MDGs and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals for Persons with Disabilities, thus incorporating the elderly, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups in their overall planning for socio-economic development, and enabling them to become contributors and beneficiaries of social development. The family plays a positive role in poverty eradication, employment promotion and protection of the interests of vulnerable groups. China supports the events to be launched by the UN in observance of the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family.

Third, the transitional work in connection with the social aspect of the post-2015 development agenda should be effectively carried out. Implementation of MDGs in the field of poverty eradication and education, stills calls for strengthened efforts. China supports the continued full implementation of the MDGs and an early start of the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda. The new agenda should be based on the MDGs, and continue to take eradicating poverty and promoting development as the centerpiece, while adhering to the principle of coordination and balanced development, in order to promote economic, social and environmental development in a comprehensive and well-coordinated manner.

Fourth, the support for developing countries in the field of social development should be expanded. In the field of poverty eradication, employment promotion and increased social security, developing countries face many challenges including lack of finance and technology. Developed countries should fulfill in good faith their ODA commitments and provide effective support to developing countries' effort in improving their people's livelihood. Meanwhile, the right of developing countries to choose their own path of development should be respected, and no strings should be attached to assistance, so as to satisfy the needs of developing countries through practical action.

Mr. Chairman,

In recent years, the Chinese Government has been focusing on economic development as its central task, which has laid a solid foundation for social development. In this process, We have always put people at the center of our development endeavor and aimed at making realizing, safeguarding and developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people the starting point and goal of all the work, to ensure that everyone gets to share the fruits of development and to promote well-rounded development of the person. Meanwhile, we are committed to the full implementation of the overall plan for p romoting economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress, ensure coordinated progress in all areas of endeavors in the modernization drive. Social development in China has come a long way thanks to years of hard work. We have realized ahead of schedule the MDGs of reducing by half the population living in poverty; we have achieved universal coverage of free compulsory education in both urban and rural areas; we have put in place the initial framework of urban and rural primary health care system; we have set up a comprehensive old-age insurance system covering both urban and rural areas; and we have established a fairly comprehensive set of legal rules and regulations to protect persons with disabilities.

China is still a developing country, with over 100 million Chinese living under the poverty line, facing tremendous challenges in social development. The new collective leadership of China has put forward the vision of realizing the Chinese dream, which stands for the renewal of the Chinese nation. It has set forth two centennial goals for the 1.3 billion Chinese people, namely, to build a moderately prosperous society by 2020 and to turn China into a modern socialist country by the mid- 21st Century. We firmly believe that in the process of realizing the Chinese dream, social development in China will make new achievements.

Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese dream is closely connected with the dreams of people all around the world. As the biggest developing country, China has been providing assistance to fellow developing countries to the utmost of its ability. Since 2000 alone, China has, within the framework of South-South cooperation, provided assistance to over 120 developing countries, built over 200 schools and more than 30 hospitals and malaria control and prevention centers, and trained more than 80,000 skilled personnel of all types. China has also cancelled the debts of some developing countries to alleviate their debt burden. In future, the Chinese government stands ready to continue its cooperation with all parties, provide more assistance to other developing countries in the field of social development within the framework of South-South cooperation, share each other's experience in development, and make greater contribution to the building of a prosperous and harmonious world.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.