国内英语新闻:Chinese envoy urges UN General Assembly to put development issues on top of agenda

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday urged the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to put development issues on top of its agenda, while noting that the inter-governmental nature of the UNGA should not be weakened.

"The global implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has entered a critical decade of action. But the progress of implementation is not satisfactory. Therefore, the UNGA should place development issues on top of its agenda, and urge the international community, especially developed countries, to assist developing countries in implementing Agenda 2030," Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said at the general debate of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly.

"We should never cut back on our attention or investment devoted to developing issues on the pretext of optimizing the agenda of the General Assembly," said the envoy.

Noting that the international community faces many severe challenges more than ever, Wu said that "revitalizing the General Assembly concerns the common interest of all member states, the status and role of the United Nations and the authority and credibility of multilateralism."

"China believes that in the process of revitalizing the General Assembly, we need to make full use of the opportunity presented by the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and push the UNGA to further improve its work, boost efficiency, and thus fully fulfill its responsibilities under the (UN) Charter," said the envoy.

"Multilateralism is the shared aspiration of the international community and is supported by the overwhelming majority of member states," he added.

"It is important that all parties summon stronger political commitment and support the UNGA with real actions, including timely, full and unconditional payment of assessed contributions," said the envoy.