UNRC Briefing to Member States

Excellencies,

Ambassadors,

Members of the UN family,

I welcome all of you to this briefing to Member States on recent progress with the work of the UN in China.

This is the first time we meet all together in the New Year, so allow me to renew to all of you my best wishes for this Year of the Tiger.

I would like to thank all Member States for their support of the UN’s work, and their investment in UN reform, so that the UN can deliver as one and leave no one behind.

I would like to also thank the Rockefeller Foundation for its generous support for the programming of the UN in China in the FOCAC follow-up symposium, which I will outline.

I begin by providing an introduction to the agenda:

• The FOCAC follow-up symposium held on 18 January, a joint event with the African Ambassadors group.
• The recent visit of the UN Secretary-General to Beijing on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games. 
• Update on recent discussions with the Host Country on the governance and monitoring of the Cooperation Framework implementation. 

I underscore that the reason to convene this meeting is to report on a new page of the relationship between the UN and China. As shown by the events and developments on which I will brief you, this is a renewed and stronger relationship, one that sees the UN fulfilling its responsibility to be “fit for purpose” to support an upper-middle income country such as China, and contribute to leverage its resources, expertise and experiences beyond its national borders.

I thank H.E. Mr. Abdallah Abdillahi Miguil, the Ambassador of Djibouti and Dean a.i. of the African Ambassadors Group, for agreeing to preside the briefing on the FOCAC follow-up symposium.

I also thank the Ambassador of Djibouti and Dean a.i. of the African Ambassadors Group for his leadership with this significant event and for inviting the UN to support it.

The event, which was organized at record speed, demonstrated the value of the UN as a strong partner in the post-FOCAC follow-up, and reflects the trust, confidence and goodwill from our counterparts, starting with the African countries.

In providing a quick re-cap on the event, I note the vast attention it has attracted in China and beyond.

In follow-ups, a co-chairs’ note will be produced, along with an outcome document, to lay out a joint Action Plan for Implementing FOCAC 2021.

This symposium is the start of a series of engagements on the FOCAC, and it focused on five key areas out of the nine initiatives announced during the FOCAC 2021, including green development (Panel 1: Towards a greener future: Clean Energy Transition and the Path to Carbon Neutrality), poverty reduction and agricultural development (Panel 2: Towards a more prosperous future: Rural Revitalization and Opportunities for China-Africa Cooperation), medical and health (Panel 3: Towards a healthier future: Public Health System Reform and Preparedness for the Next Pandemic) and trade and investment promotion (Panel 4: Towards a greener and more prosperous future: SMEs, Finance and Investment).

In the year ahead, the UN in China will continue to support the African Ambassadors’ Group, convene, connect and catalyze partnerships with the Government of China, research institutes, foundations and private sector to operationalize commitments under the FOCAC, to deliver on the 2030 Agenda and AU Agenda 2063.

As the Ambassador of Djibouti to China said, “Europe was rebuilt by the Europeans”, as we saw at the end of the Second World War. But for Africans to build Africa, we will need a 21st Century Marshall Plan with Public-Private partnerships, spanning Governments, the private sector, and foundations from all corners of the globe.

I can tell you from my experience as UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, where we sought collaboration from companies such as Huawei from China, Merck from the United States, Phillips from the Netherlands, and GlaxoSmithKline from the United Kingdom. We also teamed up with Safaricom Foundation and the Kenya Health Federation to harness the power of big data and innovation to support the Government of Kenya’s efforts to reduce maternal death in the counties facing the highest burden. In a matter of two and a half years, it was this partnership that led to a one-third reduction of maternal mortality in these counties, hailed as a best practice at the World Economic Forum in 2017. 

Importantly, the Ambassador of Djibouti to China raised the importance of hope – hope for youth – in ensuring that every young person can access resources, such as education, skills, and employment.

And as we have all been made painfully aware, the COVID-19 pandemic had shown us the importance of universal health coverage – and although we have seen a setback, there is still hope to accelerate and give velocity to the SDGs in these remaining years of the Decade of Action.

As we have been doing, the UN in China will keep member states abreast of our engagement on FOCAC through regular briefings such as today’s occasion.

I now move on, to the Secretary-General's attendance of the Opening Ceremony of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, on invitation from the IOC. We have seen the admirable talents of all participants at the Winter Olympics, many from the Member State you represent, coming together in unity and sportsmanship to demonstrate the Olympic spirit.

I wish to provide a debrief on the SG’s programme in Beijing, including his meetings with the IOC President, UN Country Team, President Xi Jinping, State Councilor/Foreign Minister Wang Yi, etc.

The key messages from the Secretary-General’s meetings with the authorities of the People’s Republic of China include:

• Appreciation for China’s strong support to the United Nations and multilateralism and the wish for enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the People’s Republic of China in all the pillars of the Organization’s work – peace and security, sustainable development, including climate change and biodiversity, and human rights.
• The importance of unity and solidarity in a multilateral framework bridging geopolitical divides when facing the dramatic challenges of the pandemic, climate change and the multiplication of conflicts.
• Concern with the dramatic growth of inequalities in the world fueling the North-South divide.
• The importance of China’s Global Development Initiative to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the poorest countries. (At the briefing, the RC stated that the UN welcomes ideas from any Member State to support and achieve the SDGs, and the UN in China team is ready to provide whatever technical assistance is requested on the GDI).
• On climate change, the appeal for additional efforts (from China) to accelerate the transition to the green economy to bridge the emissions gap.
• The expectation that contacts between the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Chinese authorities will allow for a credible visit of the High Commissioner to China, including Xinjiang.

I also share with Member States that the Secretary-General expressed full support for the UN in China’s work, including the UNSDCF and our flagship initiatives.

2021 is the first year for the implementation of UNSDCF 2021-2025. The UN in China is in full swing to deliver as one.

The UN in China will soon organize a dedicated meeting for the Chairs of the Results and Thematic Groups to brief member states on the full progress of UNSDCF implementation, just as it was done on two occasions last year, in March and August.

Meanwhile, I would like to give you a quick update on a number of significant developments following our discussions with China, notably on the Joint Steering Committee and the indicators for the implementation matrix.

I am pleased to inform you that the Joint Steering Committee was established on 7 February 2022, following the Government of China’s endorsement of the Terms of Reference of the Committee, as per the Note Verbales exchanged with the RCO.

The inaugural meeting is expected to be convened in early April 2022, and preparations are currently being discussed with MOFCOM. The following meetings will also take place in early April every year.

The co-Chairs of the Committee include the UN Resident Coordinator in China, and the Vice-Minister of Commerce and China’s Deputy International Trade Representative, Mr. Wang Shouwen. For the first year of its existence, the membership of the Committee will be limited to representatives of the Government of China and the United Nations. Despite our repeated attempts to have a broader membership, the government position is that at this time, they prefer a more restricted membership.

However, the Government did agree to review the membership of the JSC every year at the discretion of the co-Chairs, so leaving the door open to a possible enlargement, once they familiarize themselves with this new governance structure.

While not ideal, we remain optimistic that a broader and more legitimate committee is within sight. We will continue to propose that consideration be given to Member States representatives for each regional group, or those with active development programs in the country, as originally considered.

On the UN side, all members of the UNCT will be joining the Committee. MOFCOM is yet to finalize the list of government ministries, agencies, and entities to be included in representation of the Chinese side. The UN has requested that all our counterparts or ‘windows agencies’ be represented, given their relevance to the implementation of the country framework.

I am also pleased to announce that the Results Matrix developed to monitor progress with the implementation of the Country Framework has now been agreed.

While this is a technical tool to systematically monitor the implementation progress by means of clear indicators and targets against each outcome and outputs of the UNSDCF, aspects of it have political relevance as they relate to important aspects of the work of the UN in the country.

As mentioned, the UN in China will soon organize another opportunity to engage all Member States and have the Chairs of the Results and Thematic Groups provide a full update on the progress made over the last year.

The finalization of the results matrix is an important milestone for our work in the country, and a sign that the Government of China recognizes the added value that the UN brings to their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

In the year ahead, the UN in China will continue to regularly update the Member States, and we look forward to your support as always.