President,

China thanks Secretary-General Guterres for his report and aligns itself with the statement delivered by Uruguay on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

China commends the UN development system for actively implementing General Assembly resolution 72/279 and making substantial progress in structural transformation. At the same time, China expresses concern over persistent challenges facing the system, including insufficient coordination and sharp resource constraints.

Looking forward, China wishes to share three observations:

First, all parties must jointly safeguard the development pillar of the United Nations. Since its founding, the UN Charter has enshrined the promotion of global development as a core mandate. All sides should protect hard-won gains in the development sphere. Confronted with severe implementation gaps in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN must consolidate its development pillar and strengthen its development system, providing Global South with greater financial, technological, and intellectual support in key areas such as poverty reduction, and urging developed countries to earnestly deliver on their development financing commitments.

Second, the principle of national ownership and leadership must be upheld without compromise. The UN development system should align its work with the urgent needs and priorities of developing countries. Resident Coordinators should remain focused on development, leverage their coordinating role, and ensure that UN Country Teams operate in line with host countries' national conditions and development strategies. Policy formulation and operational coherence must be enhanced to ensure that the Cooperation Frameworks are aligned with the needs of programme countries.

Third, reform must prioritize results-based outcomes. China supports the expeditious implementation of the “UN80 Reform Initiative”and calls for staying the course on the right direction of reform to further enhance quality and efficiency. Given the far-reaching implications of system-wide reform, the UN must strengthen overall coordination, adopt systematic planning, and conduct rigorous assessments to avoid acting in haste. Regional and country-level reforms should ultimately aim to enhance coherence, improve on-the-ground delivery efficiency and impact, and must guard against a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

China has all along been a champion and promoter of shared development. Five years on since the launch of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), it has mobilized over USD 23 billion in funding and carried out more than 1,800 cooperation projects. Through the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, China has implemented over 100 triangular cooperation projects with more than 20 international organizations in over 50 countries. China will continue to scale up its investment in global development and demonstrate its due responsibility.