Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Mammethan Chakyyev,

Ambassador Aksoltan Ataeva, 

Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua,

Dear Colleagues,

China thanks Turkmenistan for convening this ministerial meeting, and we applaud Turkmenistan’s positive contribution to global cooperation on sustainable transport.

As a key element of sustainable development, sustainable transport plays a crucial role in promoting poverty eradication, food security, livelihood, employment, and social equity. 

At present, the international community is seriously lagging behind in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. All parties need to strengthen solidarity and collaboration, promote global sustainable transport cooperation, and strengthen policy, infrastructure, trade, financial, and people-to-people connectivity among all countries, with a view to boosting global economic recovery and growth and speeding up the implementation of the SDGs.

First, we must prioritize the role of transport. As a Chinese saying goes, "If you want to get rich, build roads first". We should take a moderately proactive approach and leverage the leading role of transport in social and economic development. We should strengthen our policy coordination and resource inputs, so as to accelerate local infrastructure connectivity, promote regional economic cooperation, and inject strong impetus for development.

Second, we must put people front and center. We should increase investment in transportation in poor areas and focus on safeguarding and improving people's livelihoods. At the same time, we should strengthen North-South cooperation, deepen South-South cooperation, and provide more support for transportation infrastructure in least-developed countries and landlocked developing countries.

Third, we must be driven by innovation. We should actively promote the digitization of the transport industry, and vigorously develop smart transport and logistics. We should speed up our efforts in scientific and technological innovation in transportation, and create an open, fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory environment for development.

Fourth, we must take a green and low-carbon approach. We should promote the development of green transportation infrastructure, work for faster and wider application of new and clean energy, enhance the efficiency of resource utilization, and strive for the harmonious coexistence between human and nature.

China attaches great importance to the sustainable development of transportation. We have built the world's largest high-speed railroad network, highway network, and world-class port group. Our air and sea routes are connecting every corner of the world, with the total mileage of the comprehensive transportation network exceeding six million kilometers. 

We have accelerated the formation of green and low-carbon modes of transportation, which leads to the continued decline in energy consumption and carbon emission intensity of transportation. China's production and sales of new energy vehicles have ranked first in the world for nine consecutive years, accounting for more than 60 percent of the global share. 

At the same time, China actively participates in international cooperation on sustainable transport. In recent years, we have hosted three sessions of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Second UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference, and the Global Sustainable Transport Forum. All these events have helped build international consensus and inject political impetus into global transport cooperation.

The Global Sustainable Transport  Innovation and Knowledge Center initiated by China has set up an important platform for global transport cooperation. It is also a major initiative to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 

China looks forward to working with all countries to advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and implement the Global Development Initiatives, so as to make greater contribution to the connectivity among countries and the sustainable development of global transport.

Thank you.