Mr. President,

The Chinese delegation would like to thank Administrator Clark for her introduction. We are pleased to note the positive efforts and progress of the UNDP team in all areas. China associates itself with the statement by South Africa on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the UN as well as the 70th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. It is also a critical year for international development cooperation. Though great progress has been made in achieving MDGs, the gap between the North and the South in development is still wide. Instability and uncertainties in global economy are still pronounced. Developing countries continue to face very daunting tasks of economic growth, livelihood improvement and poverty alleviation. China hopes that UNDP will fully implement its Strategic Plan 2014-2017 and improve the efficiency of its program funding. Guided by the principles of ownership and leadership of program countries, and in close alignment with their development strategies and priorities, UNDP will support the program countries in the achievement of the SDGs and the post-2015 Development Agenda to be adopted by the UN Development Summit.

Mr. President,

As the biggest development agency in the UN system, UNDP, over the years, has been making great contributions to the development of the developing countries by way of its comparative advantage and its strong business presence on the ground. The Chinese delegation would like to encourage UNDP to continue to capitalize on its strength and pay close attention to the developmental needs and challenges of different types of program countries such as the LDCs and middle-income countries, so as to render them assistance in achieving stable and sustainable development.

It is the consistent view of Chinese delegation that sufficient, stable and predictable core resources and a rational resource structure are the sine qua non for UNDP to plan and implement programs and effectively help with the development of the program countries. China is concerned about the trend of double decline in UNDP’s core and overall resources as reflected in its 2014 financial situation. If the current funding situation cannot be reversed, that will affect UNDP’s effective operations and will further jeopardize the universal, neutral, multilateral and grant nature of the development cooperation of the UN, undermine the ownership and leadership role of the recipient countries. We therefore encourage UNDP to scale up its funding efforts and improve the current situation in UN development financing. We call upon developed countries to assume primary responsibility in development financing and honor their commitment to ODA.

Mr. President,

The Chinese government commends UNDP for its positive role in the field of development within the UN system over the years. We attach great importance to our longstanding friendly cooperation with the agency. China makes annual contribution to its core resources and fulfills our financial responsibility in sharing costs to maintain the UNDP office in China. We will continue to provide financial support to UNDP this year. As the next step, we will consider gradually increasing our contribution to UNDP. We are ready to share our experiences in development with other developing countries under the framework of South-South Cooperation and take concrete action in helping them achieve sustainable development.

Mr. President,

For more than three decades, China and UNDP have conducted seven cycles of Country Programs, and cooperated fruitfully in such areas as poverty alleviation, education, health, sanitation, energy, women’s development and social welfare. Such cooperation has facilitated innovation in China’s concept of development and has promoted our economic and social development. As the biggest developing country in the world, even though China ranks No. 2 in economic aggregate, our GDP per capita is only at 80th place and Human Development Index at 91st. 200 million Chinese still live in poverty. We wish to continue deepen the cooperation with UNDP. China and UNDP have just finalized the 8th Country Program (2016-2020) after rounds of consultations. We expect to see the program adopted at the current session of the Executive Board.

Thank you, Mr. President.