Chinese envoy to UN calls for treating global development as priority

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The promotion of global development should always be treated as a priority, said a Chinese envoy on Monday in discussions about UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' proposals in his Our Common Agenda report.

China expects UN member states to join efforts, engage in in-depth discussions, and practice true multilateralism with concrete actions in advancing global cooperation, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

"China is of the view that we must always treat as a priority the promotion of global development," he told an informal plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on Our Common Agenda.

The report, which was launched by Guterres prior to the opening of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, puts forward a series of important proposals and initiatives concerning the major challenges facing today's world and future generations.

"We should attach great importance to and focus on the actual needs of developing countries and prioritize cooperation in areas such as poverty reduction, inter-connectivity, food security, green development, and the digital economy," Zhang said.

"There should be institutional arrangements that are quantifiable, monitorable and verifiable to ensure that developed countries would effectively honor their commitments in, among other things, financing for development and climate finance so as to concretely make progress in international cooperation in climate change," he said.

China will engage in international cooperation in an in-depth manner in conjunction with the Global Development Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and pursue more robust, greener and more balanced global development, he said.

Zhang noted the need to address global challenges more effectively in the face of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the widening gaps of inequalities, climate change, and economic recession.

With the urgency to strengthen the global governance system, Our Common Agenda has proposed a variety of innovative ideas and initiatives as responses, he said.

"In the follow-up, we must not only explore the feasibility of setting up new platforms, but also make full use of existing mechanisms, be result-oriented, focus on greater efficiency, avoid duplication of efforts, a waste of resources, or financial strains, and jointly develop more public goods to bring equitable benefits to everyone in every country," he said.

Follow-up discussions on Our Common Agenda should be led by member states and advanced in an orderly and balanced manner. As for the adoption by the UN General Assembly of a short and concise procedural resolution on the implementation of the agenda, China believes that there should be in-depth discussions for its adoption by consensus, he said.