China calls for upholding multilateralism at 79th session of UN General Assembly

A senior Chinese diplomat called on all member states of the United Nations to uphold multilateralism and strengthen unity and cooperation addressing the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday.

Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, introduced a draft resolution titled "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)" (A/79/L.124), on behalf of the 10 SCO member states, when he made remarks at the 94th plenary meeting of the 79th session of UN General Assembly.

Established on June 15, 2001, the SCO has continued to grow and develop over the past 24 years, evolving into the world's largest regional organization with 27 participating countries, cooperation across more than 50 areas and a combined economic output approaching $30 trillion, Geng said.

Speaking of the recently concluded SCO Tianjin Summit, Geng said it was the largest-ever summit, which was attended by more than 20 national leaders and heads of 10 international organizations.

The Chinese diplomat said multilateralism was one of the key themes of the summit and the China-proposed Global Governance Initiative (GGI) was warmly welcomed and received by all participants.

All participants at the summit agreed that today's world urgently needs more effective governance concepts and systems, and GGI is both timely and necessary, Geng said, adding that all participants agreed to strengthen strategic coordination, uphold multilateralism, safeguard fairness and justice and improve global governance. 

Geng also said the UN was another key focus of the Summit. He added that the summit's declaration mentioned the "UN" more than 40 times, explicitly emphasizing adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, leveraging the central coordinating role of the UN, implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, supporting necessary reforms of the UN and expanding exchanges and cooperation with the UN and its specialized agencies.

Noting this year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the UN, Geng said the SCO Tianjin Summit also issued a special statement calling for the preservation of the UN-centered international system.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres attended the SCO Tianjin Summit and spoke highly of the SCO's efforts in supporting the cause of the United Nations, Geng added.

Acknowledging that the SCO became an observer to the UN General Assembly in 2004 and signed a joint statement on cooperation with the UN Secretariat in 2010, Geng said over the years, cooperation between the SCO and the UN Secretariat, its specialized agencies, funds and programs has grown increasingly close, yielding a series of positive outcomes. 

Geng also said since 2009, the UN General Assembly has consistently adopted resolutions on cooperation between the UN and the SCO by consensus for many years.

The draft resolution A/79/L.124 under consideration this time follows the structure of previous resolutions, focuses on major issues such as peace and development, highlights the SCO's active contributions to the cause of the UN and calls for further strengthening cooperation between the two sides, Geng said.

While expressing gratitude to all parties concerned for the constructive suggestions put forward during the consultations, Geng called on all member states to support the draft and jointly send out a powerful signal of upholding multilateralism and strengthening unity and cooperation.