Statement by Ambassador Dai Bing, Deputy Permanent Representative of China at the Opening of the Main Session of the Fifth Committee of the 79th UN General Assembly

2024-10-07 10:43  Print

Madam Chair,

I would like to start by congratulating you on assuming the Chairmanship of the Fifth Committee of the 79th Session for General Assembly. You can count on China's full support for your work. We believe that the Committee will achieve positive outcome under your able leadership. We commend the work by members of the Bureau, the ACABQ, and the Secretariat for the preparation for this meeting. China aligns itself with the statement by Uganda on behalf of the G77 and China, and wishes to stress three points:

First, in the face of the complex and overlapping global challenges and risks, Member States should work together to strengthen the role of the United Nations, practice true multilateralism, and jointly promote global governance. This is the appeal of world leaders at the Summit of Future and also the solemn commitment of the Pact for the Future. China firmly upholds the UN-centered international system, and makes unremitting efforts to build community with a shared future for mankind. China will contribute to full implementation of the 2030 Agenda by advancing the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

All Member States should deliver on their commitment to multilateralism and take concrete actions to support the work of UN and fulfill financial obligations in full to ensure the UN to deliver its mandate. The primary cause of liquidity crisis is the long time overdue arrears of one major contributor. To address liquidity crisis requires solutions to both symptoms and root causes. Temporary suspension of the return of credit for the year 2023 against 2025 assessment is not a fundamental solution.

Secondly, UN program planning and budget process should adhere to the Member States-driven principle and reflect legitimate appeals of Member States. The program budget should remain at the appropriate scale, prioritize development resources and strike a balance in resources allocation among UN three pillars as security, development and human rights. More concrete measures on human resources management should be taken with a view to increasing representation of developing countries in the staff of UN Secretariat. Strengthened internal control should be put in place to address issues such as waste of resources and financial losses which identified by the report of the UN Board of Auditors so as to ensure oversight and accountability. 

Thirdly, methodology for the UN scale of assessments should fully reflect the principle of capacity to pay. Over the years, the total assessment rates of the G77 and China increased continuously. According to the report of the Committee on Contributions, the collective assessment rate borne by members of the G77 and China in 2025-2027 is almost 4 times of the assessment rate borne by the G77 and China 15 years ago, while the scale of assessments of developed countries continue to decrease. This is neither reasonable nor fair and is not in line with the principle of capacity to pay. Keep shifting financial burdens from developed countries to developing countries runs counter to the principle of capacity to pay, enjoys no support and will go nowhere.  

The Chinese delegation will work with all parties and engage in-depth discussions on all agenda items. We are ready to make join efforts to complete the agenda as planned to achieve expected outcomes.

Thank you.