On October 9, the Administrative and Budgetary Committee (5th Committee) of the 61st session of the UN General Assembly starts to consider the scale of assessment for the apportionment of the expenses of the UN.

Liu Zhenmin, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of China, made a speech and illustrated the Chinese government's position on this issue. He sressed that capacity to pay has been the cornerstone of the scale methodology ever since the inception of the United Nations. It is a principle that reflects the general consensus by the broad membership and has been reaffirmed by relevant GA resolutions numerous times. This principle therefore brooks no change or distortion. China is against any proposal that deviates from this principle, be it the concept of "responsibility to pay" or the setting up of a minimum assessment rate for permanent members of the Security Council, as advanced by a certain State. Liu Zhenmin stated that, as a member of the UN family and a permanent member of the Security Council, the Chinese government understands very well its responsibility towards the Organization and towards peace and security of the world. The Chinese government stands ready to make an even greater contribution to the United Nations on the basis of capacity to pay, as its domestic economy continues to grow.

South Africa on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Finland on behalf of the European Union and some other countries, during their statements, all supported the principle of capacity to pay for adopting the scale of assessment for the period 2007-2009. Many developing countries also voiced their opposition to any proposals leading to the large-scale increase of their assessment.