Chair,

China thanks the Chairman of the Board of auditors, Deputy Controller and the Vice Chair of ACABQ for their presentations. China associates itself with the statement made by the representative Iraq of G77 and China and I would like to add the following comments:

The Board of Auditors is the most important external audit body of the UN. Independent, efficient, effective audit oversight helps to improve the transparency and compliance of UN financial management, thus playing an irreplaceable role in safeguarding the interests of Member States. The Chinese delegation thanks the BOA for the report submitted.

This report is problem-oriented, and many of its recommendations anchored the UN 80 Initiative, it is of great significance for the efforts to deep UN reform, strength of management, improve governance and enhance operational efficiency and capacity for mandate delivery.

China notes that in addition to disclosing traditional issues such as inadequate implementation of UN management roles, losses on waste of resources and low operational efficiency, this year's report puts forward many recommendations to optimize institutions in terms of construction, project review and approval, project progress tracking, human resources management, procurement and supply chain management, among others. Strengthening institutional frameworks adhering to the management rules and advancing accountability are essential for the steady and sustained progress of the UN 80 Initiative. These recommendations in the audit report should be taken very seriously and be thoroughly discussed in the following consultations.

At the same time, China notes with concern that the overall implementation rate of audit recommendations in 2024 was only 51.6%. Six entities have lower implementation rate than in 2023, with the lowest be only 26%. We hope all relevant entities will earnestly implement the audit recommendations and effectively raise the implementation rate, thus contributing to better quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the UN system.

China stands ready to actively engage with other member states on this agenda item.

I thank you, Chair.