Mr. Chair,

     The Chinese delegation thanks Ms. Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General of DMSPC, for the presentation on the financial situation of the Organization, and Mr. Chandramouli Ramanathan, Assistant-Secretary-General and Controller, for the representation on the management of liquidity situation. China associates itself with the statement made by the delegation of Pakistan on behalf of "the Group of 77 and China" and wishes to make the following comments and recommendations.

    China has become the second largest contributor to the United Nations regular budget, and its scale of assessment to the United Nations has been increasing in recent years. Despite facing the tasks of developing the economy and improving people's livelihood, China has overcome difficulties and paid all the regular budget assessment to support the work of the United Nations with practical actions. Finance serves as the foundation of and an important element underpinning UN governance. A sound financial situation is not only the material basis for the UN to perform its duties and functions, but also an important guarantee for the implementation of UN reform initiatives. Maintaining the role of the UN needs all Member States to shoulder responsibilities and fulfill their financial obligations.

    The current financial situation of the UN remains worrying. Up to now, the total unpaid assessments under the regular budget is 1.168 billion. One Member State owes the UN regular budget for about 80% of the total arrears. With the joint efforts of all Member States, the second resumed session of the Fifth Committee of the 76th General Assembly adopted resolution 76/272, approving more temporary liquidity measures to help the Secretariat to overcome liquidity difficulties. China has noted that some Member States and the Secretariat wishes to increase the predictability of payments, but this is not the root cause of the problem. If Member States, especially the major contributors, fail to pay their assessment in a timely manner, any measure cannot solve the liquidity problem. To solve the problem fundamentally, all Member States in arrears, especially those with the ability to pay, need to pay their assessments as soon as possible.

    At present, the Covid-19 pandemic has been fluctuating, and challenges such as climate change, geopolitical conflicts, food and energy crises are intertwined and superimposed. The global economic recovery is fragile and tortuous. The international community has high expectations for the UN. We hope the Secretariat could take effective measures to overcome difficulties to ensure the implementation of the responsibilities entrusted by the UN Charter and all the mandates. Meanwhile, the Secretariat should promote a culture of conservation, avoid waste or speeding up budget implementation only at the end of year, and continue to strengthen budget performance management, improve internal control, and adhere to financial discipline to ensure that every penny of the tax payers of the Member States is put to good use.

    Thank you, Mr. Chair.