Excellencies, 
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen, 
Dear friends,

Good evening! On behalf of Chargé d’affaires Li Yihong of the Chinese Mission to WTO, Ambassador Shen Jian for Disarmament Affairs, and in my own name, I wish to welcome you all to this reception. 

Over the past 76 years, the Chinese nation has made a historic leap-forward from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong, with rapid economic growth and long-term social stability, and remarkable scientific and technological development. In the first half of this year, China’s GDP grew by 5.3 percent year on year, and total imports and exports of goods increased by 3.5 percent. China is the world’s second-largest economy, contributing about 30 percent to world economic growth. China won the largest poverty alleviation battle in human history, reaching the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development poverty reduction goal a full decade ahead of schedule. China is among the leading countries in frontier fields such as 5G networks, supercomputing, aerospace, and artificial intelligence.

People may wonder: how could it happen in just a few decades? The answer can be found in the book series of Xi Jinping on Governance of China. 

In short, it hinges on the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, which is always advancing self-reform and open to public oversight. The adoption, in particular, of the eight-point decision on improving work conduct has disciplined Party members to be committed to concrete endeavors to serve the people. This year’s educational campaign on implementing the Decision has achieved notable progress in tackling prominent problems of bureaucracy, formalism, hedonism, and extravagance.

It hinges on the right path suited to our own national conditions, namely the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, with the whole-process people’s democracy, common pursuit of high-quality development, high-level opening up and the successful practice of “One Country, Two Systems”. China’s poverty eradication and rural revitalization strategies embody a people-centered development philosophy, and China’s poverty alleviation achievements, experience, and approaches provide important reference for global poverty reduction.

It hinges on the self-reliance, innovation and dedicated efforts of the Chinese people.

Last but not least, it hinges on the independent foreign policy of peace, and reinforced international cooperation. 

The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of both the founding of the United Nations (UN) and the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. On the main battlefield in the East, China made decisive contributions to the overall victory at the cost of tremendous national sacrifice. The UN was born out of deep reflection by the international community on the lessons of two world wars. China was the first country to sign the UN Charter, together with all nations, opening a historic journey of building peace and pursuing development.

Over the past 80 years, the UN has played an irreplaceable role in maintaining world peace and promoting common development. Today, however, the cause of peace and development remains arduous. Multilateralism is facing headwinds, the gap between expectations and reality is widening, and both traditional and non-traditional challenges—climate change, artificial intelligence, regional conflicts, humanitarian crises—are growing. The war in Gaza drags on, progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is lagging, and the Global South remains underrepresented. But mere criticism does not have standing power. Instead of complaining about darkness, we need to light more candles.

In this connection, a few weeks ago, President Xi Jinping, in response to the aspirations of the UN and countries worldwide, put forward the Global Governance Initiative. It rests on five principles: first, adhere to sovereign equality—ensuring all countries, regardless of size, strength and wealth, are equal participants, decision-makers and beneficiaries in global governance; second, abide by the international rule of law—ensuring international law and rules are applied equally and uniformly, and rejecting double standards; third, practice multilateralism—upholding the vision of global governance featuring extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit; fourth, advocate the people-centered approach—better tackling the common challenges for mankind and safeguarding the common interests of all countries; fifth, focus on taking real actions—coordinating global efforts and enhancing practical cooperation to prevent the governance system from lagging behind or being fragmented. China is not seeking to set up a parallel framework outside the current system or to replace anyone. Instead, we would like to work with all responsible countries to reform and improve global governance, strengthen the UN’s authority and central role, and put multilateralism into effective practice, so as to jointly address the mounting global challenges and governance deficits. This is in line with the shared expectations of the international community and has been widely welcomed and supported. Here, I wish to reaffirm China’s firm commitment to defending the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, to supporting peace and development of the world, and to pursuing the progress of human civilization and well-being. China stands ready to work with all countries to inject greater stability and more positive energy into the world, so as to create a brighter future for all.

As President Xi Jinping stated, China will always be a trusted partner of the UN. Since the adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 in 1971, which restored China’s lawful seat, China has participated actively, deeply and comprehensively in the work of the UN. We have contributed more than 50,000 peacekeepers to UN peacekeeping missions. We have rendered strong support to global and regional development through the China-UN Peace and Development Fund and the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund. We have remained committed to safeguarding the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. During the high-level events of the 80th UN General Assembly this week, the Chinese leader declared that as a responsible major developing country, China will not seek new special and differential treatment in current and future negotiations at the WTO. Yesterday, President Xi Jinping announced China’s new NDCs at the UN Climate Summit, a number of ambitious goals, including by 2035 reducing economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent to 10 percent from peak levels and striving to do better. China also proposed the Global AI Governance Initiative and calls on all countries to proactively carry out the AI+ campaigns in light of their national conditions, making important contributions to the discourse on emerging technologies. This October, China will again host the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing, adding a new chapter to the global advancement of women. These are not only proactive steps to support multilateralism, but also concrete actions to implement the four global initiatives respectively on development, security, civilization, and governance. The exhibitions on site today that we co-hosted with the Palace Museum and Xinhua News Agency, and the exhibition themed “RMB Internationalization” brought here by the Bank of China, also highlight China’s wisdom and responsibility from various perspectives. The Bank of China booth also reflects the ongoing progress in the internationalization of the RMB.

Over the years, China has been actively participating in multilateral affairs here in Geneva, fostering close exchanges and practical cooperation with the UN agencies here in fields of economy and trade, intellectual property rights, disarmament, human rights, health, labor, humanitarian action, climate and meteorology. In the coming weeks, we will hold seminars here on topics such as artificial intelligence and security cooperation, with a view to building broader consensus and delivering more concrete results within the framework of the Global Governance Initiative. As we gather now, the 60th session of the Human Rights Council is in process, and China will continue to promote dialogue and cooperation. We hope that the drafting process of the draft resolution on economic, social and cultural rights will again be a consensus-building process. We have submitted our candidacy for membership in the Human Rights Council for the term 2028-2030. I am also delighted to present Professor Liu Huawen, candidate for re-election as a member of the Committee against Torture- we have Professor Liu here - and we count on your valuable support.

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Dear friends,

Just now, the song named Jade Plate is symbolic of the full moon, as the mid-autumn festival will be with us on October 6th. It’s a time to reunite with relatives and miss our friends. There is a famous poem about the festival that goes: “I hope everyone could live in good health and a peaceful world, so that we could enjoy the full moon even though being thousands of miles apart.” The UN80 reform offers a unique opportunity for a better world. The choices we make today will shape the world of tomorrow. China stands ready to work hand in hand with all partners, with confidence and determination, to advance reform of the global governance system and to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

Now, please join me in a toast:

To the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China;

To a bright future of lasting peace and shared prosperity for humankind;

And to the health and happiness of you and your family—

Cheers!