On 30 September 2021, just days after the opening of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, China fully paid the assessments for the 12 UN peacekeeping operations during the mandated period as of 31 December 2021 by the Security Council. As the largest developing country, a permanent member of the Security Council, and the second largest contributor to the UN regular budget and peacekeeping assessments, China always fulfills its financial obligations to the UN timely,in full, on time, fully and without conditions. This once again shows China's steadfast support to the work of the UN and multilateralism.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China's lawful seat in the United Nations. Over the past 50 years, China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, a defender of international order, and a provider of public goods. President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative at the recent general debate of the UN General Assembly. The initiative captures the major and urgent issues facing the world, and reflects the common expectation of the international community, especially developing countries. China will continue to bring the world new opportunities through its new development, and speed up the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The United Nations peacekeeping operations play an crucial role for regional stability and the settlement of hot-spot issues. The Secretary-General's Action for Peacekeeping initiative and follow-up actions are at a critical stage of implementation. As the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the Security Council, China attaches great importance to peacekeeping operations, and supports the UN in strengthening peacekeeping capacity building to better protect the safety and security of peacekeepers. The international community should invest more in this area and take concrete actions.

China will always firmly uphold and practice multilateralism, and safeguard the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. We call for continued improvement of the financial situation of the UN and strengthen its management, and support the UN in playing a greater role in meeting global challenges. China hopes that other member states, especially major contributors, will pay their assessments in full and on time, so as to support the UN in playing its core role.