Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese delegation first of all would like to thank Mr. Connor, the UN Under Secretary-General for his introduction of the UN financial situation.  While fully endorsing the statement made by the distinguished representative of Iran on behalf of G77 and China, I would like to make some additional comments.

Mr. Chairman,
The complex international situation we face today calls for a strengthened role of the UN, this is a common understanding, I believe, that no member states would dispute.  And a UN without a stable and solid financial basis would render all the talk about strengthening its role absolutely meaningless.  The question of improving the financial situation of the UN has become a perennial item on the agenda of the Fifth Committee, and every year most member states repeat the same exhortation: all member states should honor their financial obligations towards the UN in good faith and that the country with the largest arrears should pay its dues to the UN immediately, in full and without condition.

Last week, the Under Secretary-General Mr. Connor in his projection about the collection of contributions for the next three months brought us some good news.  We welcome this news and hope that his optimism would turn out to be justified.  But the Chinese delegation would like to stress once again that the new scales of assessments for the regular budget and for peacekeeping must be implemented comprehensively, rigorously and effectively and that the country with the largest arrears should emulate  the majority of member states by paying its assessment in full, on time and without condition and pay its arrears as requested by the General Assembly.

As a responsible member state, China, a developing country with a relatively low capacity to pay, agreed to a large increase in its assessments for both scales during the negotiations last year, thus making a positive contribution to the final package and the adoption of the relevant resolutions.

Mr. Chairman, like most member states, China supports the Secretary-General's reform measures.  As a result of the hard work of most member states, we have made some progress in UN's financial reform, including adjustments to the scales of assessments and the adoption of a new budgeting format, and it is high time now to resolve the UN financial difficulty once and for all.

Mr. Chairman, a strong and stable financial basis is the precondition for UN's fulfillment of its mission and Charter responsibilities.  We once again call upon all member states to faithfully honor their financial obligations under the Charter, so that UN endowed with a sound and stable financial basis can function more effectively and better serve all mankind.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.