Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese delegation would like to thank you, other Bureau members, Sharon and her team of the Secretariat, and the ACABQ for the preparation for the second resumed session. We welcome the presence of Controller Ms. Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas and the Chairman of the ACABQ Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu. On the organization of work, China aligns itself with the statement made by Egypt on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Here I would like to add the following points.

First, UN peacekeeping operations represent an important means of maintaining international peace and security. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the UN peacekeeping operation. Over the past 70 years, more than 1 million peacekeepers participated in 71 peacekeeping operations, and over 3,500 peacekeepers sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. As an active participator in and an important contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, China is the second-largest troop contributing country among the current Security Council members and the second-largest financial contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget. Right now, there are 2,491 Chinese peacekeepers deployed in 10 mission areas, including Mali, the DRC, and South Sudan. In the face of complex security situations and difficult natural environments, they are working diligently to maintain peace and protect local civilians, winning praise for the UN and its peacekeeping operations. The Chinese delegation would like to take this opportunity to pay full tribute to all peacekeepers who have contributed to the UN peacekeeping.

Second, financial resources constitute the foundation and a major support for the governance of the UN. We believe that in the preparation and review of the peacekeeping budget, we must base ourselves on facts and take a scientific and prudent approach, so as to provide necessary financial resources for the full implementation of the mandates given by Security Council resolutions. While the 2018/2019 peacekeeping budget proposal initially submitted by the Secretary General was approximately 7.269 billion USD, lower than the amount appropriated in 2017/2018, we noticed that the Secretary General submitted additional budgetary requirements for MONUSCO and UNMISS, which resulted in a slight increase of the peacekeeping budget for 2018/2019 compared with the previous period. The Chinese delegation looks forward to strengthening cooperation with all parties to review and agree on the 2018/2019 peacekeeping budget through democratic consultations. It should be pointed out that the Board of Auditors provided many valuable recommendations on last year’s peacekeeping budget, which serve as a reference for Member States in their consideration of the 2018/2019 peacekeeping budget. We would like the Secretariat to take prompt measures to implement these recommendations.

Third, our work at this session will be onerous and challenging in that we will review not only the peacekeeping budget, but also reports on UN management reform and restructuring of the UN peace and security pillar. The starting point and final goal of the UN reform should be to serve the interests of all Member States and strengthen the central role of the UN in the global governance system. The reform should be based on extensive consultations to maximize consensus. It should be conducive to safeguarding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations. It should pay more attention to and address the claims and concerns of developing countries and strive to improve the delivery capacity and operational efficiency of UN agencies. The restructuring of the Secretariat should help increase efficiency and effectiveness of various departments and enhance integrated coordination among them. At the same time, it needs to facilitate the participation of and guidance from Member States in the allocation of budgetary resources and the internal management of the UN, and strengthen accountability and oversight. There should not be a time limit for the reform. The pace should depend on the quality of the reform proposals and the progress of consultation with Member States. The reform program must go through sound argumentation and be thoroughly discussed among Member States in order to identify more scientific and operable reform initiatives.

Fourth, there is a need to effectively address the legitimate concerns of host countries and TCCs/PCCs. It is imperative to adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the fundamental principles of UN peacekeeping operations. Full respect for the sovereignty of host countries and enhanced communication with them are the prerequisite and guarantee for peacekeeping missions to win the trust of host countries and conduct their work smoothly. We have noticed that the Secretary General has taken numerous measures to advance gender equality with visible results. TCCs and PCCs have made great contribution to peacekeeping operations and are familiar with the operation of peacekeeping missions. China hopes that the Secretariat will take effective practical measures to give priority to candidates from TCCs and PCCs when recruiting peacekeeping-related personnel.

Fifth, there is a need to take measures and work together to overcome the financial difficulties of the UN. At present, the financial situation of the UN is facing severe challenges. There is a glaring gap between the need to strengthen the role of the UN and the constraint of the UN’s financial resources. The peacekeeping budget also suffers from a large amount of arrears. We call on Member States to pay all assessments on time, in full and without conditions. Countries that have the capacity to pay, especially those that owe considerable amount of outstanding payment, should unconditionally pay up as soon as possible as a practical action to support the cause of the UN. The Secretariat on its part must take effective measures to strengthen budget management, toughen budget regulation, rigorously enforce financial discipline, and improve efficiency in financial resource utilization to manage and use wisely every cent from the taxpayers of Member States.

Mr. Chairman,

The document preparation for this session is still behind schedule, which, to some extent, will directly impact the pace and efficiency of the consideration of the Fifth Committee. We hope that the Secretariat could distribute meeting documents as early as possible, thus providing powerful support to the consultations at the Committee. The Chinese delegation will actively work with other Member States and participate in the consultations on all agenda items in a positive and constructive spirit. We hope to see timely and successful conclusion of all agenda items of this resumed session.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman.