Mr. Chairman,

      On behalf of the Chinese delegation, I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his remarks this morning and Under-Secretary-General John Holmes for convening today's high-level conference.

      The Chinese government highly appreciates the outstanding performance of CERF over the last year and wishes to take this opportunity to reaffirm its support for CERF. The establishment of CERF is of great significance to enhancing the UN system's humanitarian response capability and improving the global coordination mechanism for humanitarian assistance. In 2008, CERF has received more extensive political support as well as financial assistance from various parties. Its fundraising target of US$450 million and objective of providing humanitarian assistance in a more transparent, reliable and timely manner have by and large been achieved. We appreciate CERF's efforts in this regard.

      The Chinese delegation welcomes the first independent evaluation on CERF by the Secretary-General and is pleased to note that CERF is giving serious consideration to all the findings and recommendations of the evaluation, with a view to further improving its performance.  China hopes that CERF will continue to strengthen its accountability and believes that the independent evaluation has proved effective and should therefore continue. We expect that the second independent evaluation be completely in 2011 under the new mandate that may soon get endorsed by the General Assembly.

      As one of the founding donor states, China contributed US$500,000 to CERF last year. To further reflect its support for CERF, the Chinese government will continue to contribute to the Fund in 2009 in an amount no lower than that in 2008. The specific amount is subject to the verification and approval of the budgetary and legislative authorities in China.

      In conclusion, I wish to thank CERF for providing timely assistance to the earthquake areas in Wenchuan, China. I also wish to pay tribute to Under-Secretary-General Holmes for his tireless efforts and dedication to the humanitarian endeavors.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.