Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday made a statement at the General Debate of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly here. The following is the full text of Li's statement:
Work for a World of Peace, Stability and Sustainable Development
Mr.President,
I congratulate you on your election as President of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly. I believe that under your presidency, this session of the General Assembly will move forward and make good progress according to its agenda. I also appreciate the effective work of Mr. Lykketoft as President of the last session of the UNGA.
I also wish to pay tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who, with modesty and a drive for harmony and accommodation, has worked tirelessly and in a down-to-earth manner over the past decade, and whose work has contributed significantly to world peace, sustainable development and the advancement and protection of human rights in the world.
Mr. President,
Dear Colleagues,
The UN Sustainable Development Summit held last year adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, opening a new vision for global development. At the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a speech entitled "Towards Win-win Partnership for Sustainable Development" to expound on China' s principles and position as well as its readiness to advance the agenda for sustainable development.
This year is the first in the Agenda's implementation. The G20 Summit held not long ago in Hangzhou of China reached the Hangzhou consensus on world economic growth. A blueprint was drawn for building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy. Participants at the Summit pledged to actively implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and formulated an action plan toward that end, which injected new vigor to global sustainable development. The Chinese government was also among the first to adopt and release the country's National Plan on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As for the General Assembly, it has decided that for this year's session, the general debate will focus on the theme "The Sustainable Development Goals: a universal push to transform our world". These, in my view, are all highly relevant.
Sustainable development is first and foremost about development. Development underpins every human achievement. Without development, nothing can be sustainable. The lack of development is often at the root of many problems facing the world. Be it poverty or the refugee crisis, war, conflicts or terrorism, they all could be attributed to insufficient development and none can be addressed properly without development. Only development can guarantee people's fundamental rights. Only development can root out the cause for global challenges. And only development can advance human civilization and progress.
Development must be sustainable. It must be sustainable in all dimensions, otherwise development will be stalled and strained. Development won't be sustainable if it is unbalanced, unequal and widens the gap between the North and the South and the rich and the poor. Development won't be sustainable if it is achieved in an extensive manner, driven by high consumption, high pollution and high emissions and depletes resources and strains the environment. Development won't be sustainable if economic growth and social progress are not well coordinated. Only when we keep a profound understanding of the implication of sustainability, make all-round progress in poverty reduction, North-South and South-South cooperation, climate change and other fields, and work to promote equal sharing and green development can we ensure that development is truly solid and sustainable.
Sustainable development must be inclusive and interconnected. Currently, the sustainable development endeavor is faced with grave challenges: regional conflicts and hotspots are incessant, traditional and non-traditional security threats intertwine, and the environment for sustainable development gives no reason for optimism. World economic recovery remains lukewarm, economic globalization faces strong headwind, and the momentum for sustainable development is weak. Frequent occurrence of major infectious diseases and natural disasters is increasingly prominent, the issues of energy and resource security, food security and financial security are interwoven, and sustainable development remains an uphill journey. Difficult moments call for stronger confidence. I believe mankind has the wisdom and capability to find a way out of difficulty. For that to happen, there must be cooperation and a spirit of working together to tide over difficulties. It is time that the international community take on a new perspective. It should see itself as a community of shared future in which all are stakeholders, and should make concerted efforts to jointly tackle global challenges.
