17:12, October 18, 2023 The Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation
On October 17, 2023, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met at the Great Hall of the People with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres who is in China to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
Wang Yi said that the Belt and Road Initiative has become the international cooperation platform with the widest scope and the largest scale in the world today. China is ready to strengthen alignment with the UN, provide more high-quality public goods for the international community, make greater contribution to the cause of world peace and development, and join hands in building a human community with a shared future.
Wang Yi said that China firmly safeguards the authority of the UN, and supports the UN in playing the core role in international affairs. In the next few years, the UN will brace for the 80th anniversary of its founding and other important time junctures. China is ready to deepen cooperation with the UN in various fields and promote the international community to follow the guidance of true multilateralism and reject and discard unilateral bullying; to prioritize common development and accelerate the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; to take solidarity and cooperation as the target and attach importance to and respect legitimate concerns of developing countries, who take the vast majority of the UN membership; to follow the guidance of innovative science and technology, adhere to technology for good, fairness and inclusiveness, so that all humanity can share in the dividends of scientific and technological progress.
António Guterres said that since he assumed the UN Secretary-General, he has always firmly supported multilateralism, and advocated putting development at the center of the UN agenda. The Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and other important initiatives proposed by China are of crucial importance for developing countries to better respond to current challenges, and the UN is ready to intensify coordination with China, support the strengthening of South-South cooperation, and promote the improvement of global governance. The UN looks forward to China continuously playing a leading role in major international agendas.
The two sides also had an exchange of views on the Palestine-Israel conflict. Wang Yi emphasized that the two-state solution is the only way out to settle the conflict. China supports the UN in playing a bigger role, realizing ceasefire and de-escalation as soon as possible, getting back to the track of negotiation, and building broader international consensus on implementing the two-state solution. The three-point proposal put forth by President Xi Jinping on the Palestinian question is the fundamental guidance for China to deal with the Palestinian question, and China is ready to continue to strengthen coordination and communication with the UN in this endeavor.
