Meeting of the UN Country Team in China and the WEF Beijing Representative Office

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Ms. Ivey,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning!

I would like to thank Ms. Rebecca Ivey and her team for hosting us here, and I am very pleased to speak to you today.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations (UN) have been close partners for a long time, but I would like first to recall a particular time in our shared histories: 1979. The UN opened its Beijing office in 1979, starting over four decades of development partnership with the Government of China. Coincidentally, 1979 was also the year when China sent its first high-level delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos to build up links to the international business community.

Forty-three years later, we have both observed the significant transformation that has taken place in China. China’s GDP per capita has jumped from US$189 in 1979 to over US$12,000 in 2021, with almost 800 million people lifted out of extreme poverty and their access to education, healthcare and other social services greatly improved. China’s success has demonstrated the possibility for the world to make great strides in realizing our common goal – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

However, our road ahead is overshadowed by a series of challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis and everlasting conflicts that have undermined the hard-earned development progress that we have achieved.

We only have less than eight years to reverse course, and we must act now. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated at the Davos Session this year, “To chart a new course, we need all hands-on deck – especially all of you in the global business community.” Here in China, I have discovered several clear areas that we can work on to mobilize all stakeholders, especially the private sector, to accelerate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally.

The first one is to achieve sustainable economic recovery from COVID-19, leaving no one behind. China’s experiences in poverty alleviation and industrial development could be shared with many developing countries of the world, especially in Africa. To achieve this goal, we need to mobilize the financing and expertise of all parties to drive economic growth, ensure access to social services and realize sustainable rural revitalization while creating sufficient employment.

Let me share one of my own experiences. Kenya was faced with one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. With support from the Government of Kenya, I as the UN RC there broke the orthodoxy and brought in five companies: Huawei from China, Merck from the USA, GSK from the UK, Phillips from the Netherlands and Safaricom from Kenya to partner with the UN and the Government of Kenya to address the maternal death problems in six countries. In a matter of 2.5 years, this partnership led to a one-third reduction in maternal mortality, which in many countries would probably take anywhere from 10 to 15 years. The US$15 million trust fund we unlocked is also generating sustainable impact through the development of telehealth infrastructure. This achievement was highlighted through an invitation to the World Economic Forum in January 2017.

The potential we can see from these forms of public-private partnership in development is unlimited. Therefore, the UN in China is pushing forward a new SDG Partnership Platform that can leverage the experiences and resources of China to promote rural revitalization, agribusiness development and other priority areas for the SDGs in Africa.

The second is to realize green and low-carbon development. Before the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Dakar last year, the UN Country Team in China provided expert-level assistance for African countries and their parties to the first China-Africa Declaration on Climate Change Cooperation, issued during the conference. In this document, China and African countries announced their visions to strengthen cooperation in areas such as green energy, agriculture, and other low-carbon infrastructure projects. This achievement sees the great potential for China-Africa collaboration in climate. As a strategic partner in FOCAC, the UN in China stands ready to mobilize all stakeholders, including the private sector, to participate in this process.

The third is to facilitate knowledge and technology sharing. The Global South is in dire need of technologies for them to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, build sustainable and green infrastructure, and spur economic growth. China has an advanced and vibrant tech sector, which is already seeing a positive impact in much of the developing world. Using this precious opportunity, the UN in China is in the process of establishing a Center of Excellence that brings leading development scholars and practitioners from China, the US and around the world to identify actionable and concrete solutions to address the development needs of African countries.  

Ladies and gentlemen, the past 76 year history of the UN has proved the power of multilateralism to address the common challenges of humanity. Today, as these global challenges get more complex and interconnected, we also need an evolved multilateralism that is networked and inclusive, and multilateralism that incorporates civil society, cities, businesses, local authorities, and more and more young people.

The World Economic Forum is founded upon this vision of multilateralism. In 2019, the UN and WEF proudly signed a strategic partnership framework. As the UN Resident Coordinator in China, I wish for further and deeper collaboration with the WEF Beijing Representative Office to join hands and advance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda together.

Thank you!