Madam President,

I welcome H.E. Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for presiding over today's meeting, and thank Secretary-General António Guterres and Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for their briefings.

Natural resources are precious gifts bestowed by the Earth on humanity and constitute the material foundation for human survival and sustained economic and social development. However, conflicts in some regions demonstrate that resource abundance does not automatically bring development and prosperity, while poor governance may trigger and fuel violence and conflict. The international community should strengthen cooperation to improve natural resource governance, safeguard the stability of global resource supply and industrial chains, and contribute to international peace and development. I would like to make three points.

First, peace and stability are the solid guarantee for natural resource governance. Whether oil and gas pipelines or mines and forests, without a peaceful and stable environment, natural resources cannot be used to benefit the people. The international community should uphold a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, remain committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes, urge parties to conflicts to cease military confrontation, support regional countries and organizations in strengthening cooperation, jointly combat the illegal exploitation and smuggling of natural resources, enhance supply chain transparency and traceability, and cut off armed conflicts' access to natural resources at the source. At the same time, the causes of armed conflict are complex and diverse, involving political, social and economic factors. Natural resources should not simply be regarded as the root cause of conflicts, still less should normal economic, trade and industrial cooperation be securitized, politicized or instrumentalized.

Second, fairness and justice are important prerequisites for cooperation on natural resources. International law grants states permanent sovereignty over their natural resources, and this principle must not be challenged. Certain countries should stop seizing the resources of other countries through sanctions, pressure and military coercion, and must not revert to colonial domination and plunder. Developing countries have the right to make full use of their natural resource endowments to achieve economic and social development. China supports building an open, inclusive, fair, equitable, cooperative, win-win, green and clean governance system for critical minerals. Using the pretext of so-called "de-risking" or "safeguarding national security" to pursue bloc confrontation and build exclusive "small circles" will only disrupt market order and undermine the common interests of all countries.

Third, sustainable development is the ultimate goal of natural resource development. Facts have repeatedly shown that the persistent problem of the illicit exploitation of natural resources is rooted in poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment. To break the vicious cycle between natural resources and conflict, it is essential to support the countries concerned in achieving independent and sustainable development. The international community, especially developed countries, has the responsibility to fulfill their assistance commitments and support resource-rich countries, especially developing countries, in continuously improving their resource governance systems and increasing the added value and returns of resource products through technology transfer, capacity-building, talent development and industrial upgrading, thereby reducing poverty, creating employment, truly benefiting local people, and building a stronger foundation for peace.

Madam President,

As a major producer, consumer and trader of natural resources, China has consistently been an advocate and promoter of natural resource governance and cooperation. Last year, at the G20 Summit, China put forward the International Economic and Trade Cooperation Initiative on Green Mining and Minerals to promote the establishment of a new type of mineral-resources partnership featuring openness, win-win cooperation, fairness and equity. China stands ready to work with the international community to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation on natural resources, better help relevant countries transform their resource endowments into drivers of development, and embark on a path toward lasting peace, stability, development and prosperity.

I thank you, Madam President.