Position Paper on China's Cooperation with the United Nations

I. The founding of the United Nations was a milestone in humanity's pursuit of peace and development. As a founding member, China was the first to put its signature on the UN Charter. On 25 October 1971, the UN General Assembly at its 26th Session adopted Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority to restore all the rights of the People's Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of the Government the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations.

This was a victory for justice and fairness in the world, and a victory for the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. Since then, the Chinese people, which accounted for nearly one-fourth of the world population, have had its true representatives in the UN. The UN has become more universal, representative and authoritative. The commitment of the international community to the one-China principle has been significantly consolidated and enhanced. And the force for world peace and development has grown stronger than ever before.

Over the past 50 years, China's cooperation with the UN has kept expanding and deepening. UN agencies have set up offices in China, and conducted fruitful cooperation in a wide range of areas including economic development, poverty alleviation, health care, food security and environmental protection.

II. The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the UN. These five decades have witnessed China's practice of multilateralism, its full participation in and support for the cause of the UN, and its continuous contributions to world peace and development.

1. Over the past 50 years, China has firmly upheld world peace and security. Holding high the banner of peace, development and win-win cooperation, China has been committed to an objective and just position, to resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, and to the principle of non-interference in each others' internal affairs. China firmly opposes the willful threat or use of force in international affairs. It has taken an active part in the political resolution of major regional hotspots such as the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, the Iranian nuclear issue, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Palestine and Israel, Syria, Libya, Sudan and South Sudan. It has explored and practiced solutions with distinctive Chinese features to global and regional hotspot issues. It has endeavored to safeguard the authority and solidarity of the Security Council, actively supported UN's good offices as mandated and its coordination and cooperation with regional and subregional organizations, and contributed to world peace and security.

Since 1990, China has dispatched over 50,000 peacekeepers to nearly 30 UN peacekeeping missions. It is the second largest funding contributor to UN peacekeeping operations and an important troop provider, contributing more peacekeepers than any other permanent members of the Security Council. More than 2,200 Chinese peacekeepers are now on duty in eight mission areas. China has set up an 8,000-strong standby force and a 300-member permanent police squad for UN peacekeeping missions. This has put China ahead of all other UN troops providers in terms of the size of standby forces and the variety of contingents. China has facilitated the Security Council's adoption of Resolution 2518 on the safety and security of peacekeepers, and initiated the launch of the Group of Friends on the Safety and Security of UN Peacekeepers, contributing China's wisdom to the reform and improvement of peacekeeping missions.

China has taken an active part in international arms control and disarmament. It has joined more than 20 international arms control treaties and mechanisms including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BWC), and the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC), and has constructively participated in relevant international conferences and mechanisms. China has timely declared its implementation of relevant treaties, kept improving its domestic legal structure and measures to ensure sound implementation, and enhanced capacity building of its national implementation authorities. President Xi Jinping attended the Nuclear Security Summit in 2014 and in 2016, and proposed to follow a sensible, coordinated and balanced approach to nuclear security, and build a global nuclear security architecture featuring fairness and win-win cooperation. China has played a constructive part in the deliberation and negotiation of the UN and relevant international organizations on arms control and disarmament. It has taken the initiative to offer its proposals and solutions including no-first-use of nuclear weapon, and promoted the establishment of a verification regime under the BWC, making important contributions to world peace and security as well as to global strategic stability.

China has taken an active part in global cooperation to address non-traditional security threats. It supports UN's leading role in the global fight against terrorism and the counter-terrorism resolutions adopted by the Security Council. It has vigorously promoted the full implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. China has all along supported the UN in playing a leading role in global governance on cyberspace and has taken a constructive part in the UN Open-ended Working Group and the Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security. It has initiated with other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) the International Code of Conduct for Information Security, the world's first systematic document on the international code of conduct in cyberspace, and facilitated negotiations on a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes. In 2020, China submitted to the UN General Assembly the Global Initiative on Data Security, providing a blueprint for global rules on data security. In 2021, China submitted to the UN General Assembly the Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists, making new contributions to lowering biosecurity risks and advancing the well-being for humanity with biological sciences.

2. Over the past 50 years, China has made vigorous efforts to promote global development. Through unremitting efforts, China has realized the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and brought about a historic resolution to the problem of absolute poverty in China. China has met the poverty eradication target of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule. This is a miracle in the human history of reducing poverty, and an enormous contribution to global poverty reduction and sustainable development endeavors.

China attaches great importance to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It was among the first to publish the National Plan and three Progress Reports on the implementation of the Agenda, and has achieved early harvests in many areas. China has taken an active part in international poverty reduction cooperation, and facilitated the adoption of resolutions on rural poverty eradication at the UN General Assembly for three consecutive years. China has published a selection of poverty reduction cases in a book titled Eradication of Poverty: China's Practices. It has consistently increased input in international poverty reduction cooperation, and has fully implemented the 100 poverty reduction projects announced by President Xi Jinping and other major, practical steps to support fellow developing countries. Food security is critical to human survival. It is also an important part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China is actively involved in international agricultural cooperation, and has provided support to fellow developing countries within the South-South cooperation framework to the best of its ability. It has worked to promote international food and agriculture governance as well as global food security.

In 2013, President Xi Jinping put forward the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI follows the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, the philosophy of open, green and clean cooperation, and a high-standard, people-centered and sustainable approach. With connectivity as its main focus, Belt and Road cooperation aims to promote policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity, and to contribute China's wisdom and solutions for better global governance system, greater development worldwide, and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. To date, 141 countries and 32 international organizations including 19 UN agencies have signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China. A large number of cooperation projects have been delivered, which have enhanced the connectivity between countries and regions and given a strong boost to economic and social development and people's livelihood in relevant countries and regions. Belt and Road cooperation has demonstrated strong resilience and dynamism despite the COVID-19 pandemic and has played an important role in helping countries fight the coronavirus, stabilize the economy and ensure people's livelihood. The participants have worked actively to build a Silk Road of health, green and digital development, and foster new areas of cooperation. Such efforts have opened up new space for economic and social recovery and sustainable development, and provided strong support for the international community to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, with a view to speeding up the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the international community and achieving more robust, greener and more balanced global development. This Initiative embraces the people-centered core concept, takes the betterment of people's well-being and realization of their well-rounded development as the starting point and ultimate goal, and endeavors to meet the aspirations of all nations for a better life. It focuses on development as the master key to addressing all problems, and strives to solve difficult issues of development and create more opportunities for development, leaving no countries and no individuals behind. This Initiative follows the guidelines of practical cooperation, responds to the dynamics and urgent needs of global development, and has identified priority areas including poverty alleviation, food security, COVID-19 and vaccines, financing for development, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy, and connectivity. It has put forward cooperation proposals and plans to translate development consensus into pragmatic actions. It is an important public good and cooperation platform that China provides to the international community.

China has worked tirelessly to advance international cooperation on climate change. During the negotiations on the Paris Agreement in 2015, China called on all parties to work in the same direction and build consensus, making an important contribution to the conclusion of the Agreement as scheduled. At the General Debate of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2020, President Xi Jinping announced China's commitment to strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. China has committed to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in a much shorter time span than what might take the developed countries, which requires extraordinarily hard efforts. China has accepted the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, and tightened regulations over non-carbon dioxide emissions, and its national carbon market has started trading.

China has accelerated the transition toward clean and low-carbon energy. In 2020, China's non-fossil energy accounted for 15.9 percent of its primary energy consumption, reaching the world average, and the proportion of coal consumption lowered to 56.8 percent. China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects, strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan period. China has given priority to developing non-fossil energy, and remained the world's number one in terms of the installed capacity of hydropower, wind power, photovoltaic power and nuclear power plants under construction. By the end of 2020, China's installed capacity of clean energy accounted for nearly half of the total installed capacity. China has vigorously advanced the ultra-low emissions and energy-saving renovation of coal-fired power generating units. Over 100 million kilowatts of outdated coal-fired power generating units were closed. The average coal consumption for power supply from thermal power plants dropped to 305.5g/kWh. China has built the world's largest clean coal power supply system. President Xi Jinping solemnly announced, in his address at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, that China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.

China attaches great importance to protecting biological diversity. It has firmly promoted international cooperation and exchanges in this field, engaged deeply in the governance process of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and strictly fulfilled its treaty obligations to advance global governance on biodiversity. China is an important participant in, a contributor to, and a pacesetter for the multilateral process on biodiversity. President Xi Jinping made an important speech at the 2020 UN Summit on Biodiversity. He made a four-point proposal on global environmental governance, namely, adhering to ecological civilization, upholding multilateralism, continuing with green development, and heightening the sense of responsibility. He also shared China's experience of biodiversity governance and contribution to global environmental governance. From 11 to 15 October 2021, the first part of the 15th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Kunming. President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech and put forward four propositions: taking the development of ecological civilization as the guide to coordinate the relationship between man and Nature; letting green transition drive the efforts to facilitate global sustainable development; concentrating on bettering people's well-being to promote social equity and justice; and taking international law as the basis to uphold a fair and equitable international governance system. These represent China's proposals to high-quality development of humanity, and have injected fresh impetus into global biodiversity governance.

China is committed to advancing sustainable transport and connectivity in the world. From 14 to 16 October 2021, the Second UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference was held in Beijing. President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech and made five propositions: upholding open interplay and enhancing connectivity; upholding common development and promoting fairness and inclusiveness; upholding an innovation-driven approach and creating more drivers for development; upholding ecological conservation as a priority and pursuing green and low-carbon development; and upholding multilateralism and improving global governance. This is a contribution of China's wisdom to advancing sustainable transport and achieving sustainable development. The Conference released the Beijing Statement, which encourages countries to enhance cooperation, capacity building and knowledge exchange in the field of sustainable transport, accelerate sustainable transport transformation, contribute to the post-pandemic green recovery, and foster more new drivers for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.