China flags six problems with Belgium-Chile BBNJ secretariat bid

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Thursday criticized a joint bid by Belgium and Chile to host the secretariat of the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), saying it has at least six "non-conformities."

Belgium and Chile announced on November 6 that they would jointly bid, proposing to base the secretariat in Valparaiso, Chile, the information-exchange mechanism in Brussels, and subsidiary body meetings in Brussels – without consulting the broader membership.

Mao said the move improperly handles matters that should be decided by the Conference of the Parties (COP). The six problems: it violates the agreement, under which the COP decides the secretariat's location and the mechanism's setup; it violates procedural justice by bundling two distinct issues to force a package deal; it violates international practice, since treaty secretariats and information-exchange mechanisms are normally co-located, and a trans-oceanic split would raise costs and hurt efficiency; it violates geographic balance, as most major international bodies are in Europe and none in Asia, and Brussels – home to NATO and the EU and a non-coastal city – would widen the digital divide; it violates fair competition by politicizing the bid; and it violates the original commitment, as Chile, originally representing the Global South, would not host the secretariat's substantive functions while Belgium seeks only control of the information mechanism.

China has nominated Xiamen in southeast China's Fujian Province to host the secretariat, gaining support from most parties in a short time. As a founding signatory, party and largest contributor, China said it is willing and able to provide strong support for the secretariat.