Mr. Chair,

Thank you for your leadership of the Fifth Committee. My appreciation also goes to the members of the Bureau, the ACABQ and the secretariat of the Fifth Committee for their work for this meeting. China congratulates Guinea on assuming the chairmanship of the “Group of 77 and China” and will commit full support. China associates itself with the statement made by Guinea on behalf of the Group about the organization of work. We also appreciate the hard work by Guyana during the chairmanship of the group last year. I would like to make the following comments and recommendations:

The year 2021 is crucial for our efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and promote economic recovery. The United Nations, as the core platform of global governance, is shouldering greater responsibilities and facing greater challenges. China firmly supports the UN to work more effectively on all related issues. The Fifth Committee plays a unique role in supporting the operation of the UN by exclusively reviewing the UN’s programme, budget, management and human resources issues. The Committee should provide important backstop for the cause of the UN and the work of the Secretary-General, by strictly abiding by the UN Charter and the mandate given by the General Assembly, following the rules of procedure. The Committee should also overcome the difficulties caused by the pandemic on working methods, and continuously improving efficiency and effectiveness. The Secretariat needs to ensure the issuance of all the reports for consideration.

Though constrained in time, this session has important items on its agenda. China attaches great importance to human resource management. However, no resolution has been adopted in the past 2 years, to some extent depriving the opportunity for the Secretariat to receive due guidance from Member States. The geographical representation is the longstanding issue on the table, and the number of unrepresented and under-represented Member States waits to be lowered. The Secretariat should take effective, tailored and result-based measures to address the issue of geographical representation, especially the under-representation of vast developing countries, and avoid deviate from the core issue.

China supports the Secretariat to further enhance accountability, continuously strengthen the comprehensive budget performance management and improve internal control, with the aim of better supporting the management reform. The conference facilities of UNON should be renovated properly and orderly based on comprehensive analysis and sound management. We encourage the JIU to work in full effectiveness to continuously strengthen external supervision to the UN.

Mr. Chair,

The Chinese delegation is ready to work with all parties under the 5C spirit, i.e., cooperation, consultation, constructiveness, compromise and consensus. We will participate in the discussion and consultation of various agenda items constructively. We believe that under your leadership, this session will achieve great success.

Thank you Mr. Chair.