Mr. President,
I am attending this session of the UNIDO General Conference as the representative of Mr. Zhong Shan, the Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.
First of all, on behalf of the Chinese delegation, I would like to congratulate you on your election as the President of this session and pay tribute to the President and the Bureau of the last session for their outstanding contributions to the work of this session. I would also like to express my gratitude to the government of the United Arab Emirates for hosting this conference and for the thoughtful and courteous arrangements it has made for the Chinese delegation.
In the face of profound changes in the global manufacturing industry, a new round of industrial and technological revolution is unfolding at a rapid pace. At a time when the 2030 sustainable development agenda has entered an intensive implementation stage, an in-depth discussion by all the countries during this conference focusing on the theme “ Industry 2030 – Innovate, Connect, Transform Our Future” will be of great significance to the inclusive and sustainable industrial development. We have witnessed with great pleasure that since the 17th session of the UNIDO General Conference and under the leadership of Director General Li Yong, UNIDO’s own institutional governance has been continuously standardized and improved, and a good momentum has been maintained in terms of the delivery of technical cooperation and the amount of voluntary contributions. The concept of inclusive and sustainable industrial development advocated by UNIDO has become increasingly popular. The pilot Program for Country Partnership (PCP) has made positive progress and has been highly acknowledged by the member states. China congratulates UNIDO on its various achievements in its work and supports UNIDO in its continued commitment to inclusive and sustainable industrial development and in its efforts to assist the developing countries in improving their industrialization.
Mr. President,
The world today is facing an unprecedented great development, great transformation and great adjustments. At the same time, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise. The multilateral system as represented by the United Nations and the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core are faced with severe challenges. The risks and uncertainties in the operation of the world economy have risen remarkably. At present, the global economy is in a critical period of conversion of old and new kinetic energy, bringing opportunities and challenges to many developing countries at the same time. We should seize the opportunity of a new round of technological revolution and the industrial revolution and jointly push forward the inclusive and sustainable industrial development in a united and collective manner. Based on China's industrialization practices and experience, China would like to share some views and experiences here focusing on 4 words: innovation, interconnectivity, inclusion and implementation.
First, Innovation. Innovation is the No. 1 driving force to promote development. At present, a new round of global technological revolution is happening, and emerging technologies and industries such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain are profoundly affecting the patterns of world's development, profoundly changing the ways of human production and the models of industrial development, which have offered more possibilities for developing countries to embark on the new paths to industrialization. In recent years, China has adhered to the concept of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing, accelerated the development of advanced manufacturing, and used new technologies to create new “boosters” for the real economy, thus achieving higher quality, more efficient and more sustainable industrial development.
Second, Interconnectivity. Faced with the “countercurrent” of unilateralism and protectionism, countries should be more closely united to build a global interconnected partnership and achieve common development and prosperity. In recent years, on the one hand, China has actively promoted the international cooperation in line with the Belt and Road Initiatives and worked together with all the relevant countries to realize the blueprint for cooperation in terms of linkages and connectivities of policies, facilities, trade, financing, and people. On the other hand, China has continuously improved the level of its opening up to the outside world, with 18 provinces and municipalities having set up free trade pilot zones, explored the construction of free trade ports, formulated new laws for foreign investment, implemented the management model of the pre-establishment national treatment with a negative list, convened the China International Import Expo, and continuously improved the level of interconnectivity, which has provided new opportunities for development of many countries in the world.
Third, Inclusion. The pursuit for a better life is the common aspiration of the people of all countries. Economic globalization is an irresistible historical trend. All parties should uphold the principle of "Joint consultation, joint construction, and joint sharing" and work together for the goal of inclusive and sustainable industrial development. As a responsible big country, China is helping the relevant countries through various means such as international cooperation in production capacity and establishing overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, with a view to effectively helping these countries improve the level of their industrial development and actively integrate into the global value chain and industrial chain, so that the development results truly benefit the world. As of September 2018, Chinese enterprises have invested in cooperation zones in 46 countries, with a total investment of 42.69 billion US dollars, paid 4.09 billion US dollars of taxes and fees to the host countries, and created 367,000 jobs for the local communities, thus playing an active role in promoting the economic and social development of the host countries and improving the people's livelihood.
Fourth, Implementation. The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has entered an in-depth implementation phase. Developed countries should continue to earnestly fulfill their aid commitments to developing countries, especially the least developed countries by providing them with industrial development funds and technology. Developing countries should continue to deepen South-South cooperation and achieve complementary advantages and common progress in the field of industrial development. As a staunch supporter, an active participant and an important contributor of South-South cooperation, China actively undertakes international obligations that match its own capabilities, especially in terms of implementing the important achievements of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and helped African countries embark on the path of inclusive and sustainable industrial development in areas such as infrastructure, capacity building, and investment expansion.
Mr. President,
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In the past 70 years, especially since the reform and opening up, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, China has carried out large-scale industrial development and has completed the industrialization process that took developed countries hundreds of years to accomplish. In recent years, guided by the new development concepts such as innovation-driven development, China has built an innovative manufacturing system and has constantly adjusted and optimized the industrial structures. Chinese companies have continued to strengthen technological transformation, actively developed green manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing and have fully integrate into the global industrial division of labor. According to UN statistics, China's manufacturing value-added accounted for more than 28% of the global value added in 2018, profoundly changing the global economic and industrial development pattern.
The Chinese government has always attached great importance to its cooperative relationship with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Since the 1970s, the two sides have carried out a lot of fruitful cooperation in the fields of industrial development, trade capacity building and environmental protection. China is willing to continue to work with other member states to discuss inclusive and sustainable industrial development through the UNIDO platform, jointly develop the Belt and Road Cooperation Initiatives, and share the opportunities offered by a new round of technological and industrial revolution. At the same time, China will continue to support the UNIDO’s pilot Programme for Country Partnership by providing voluntary contributions and encouraging its enterprises to participate in these programmes. China will also give full play to UNIDO’s advantages in technical expertise, policy advice, resource mobilization, etc., to help developing countries achieve sustainable industrial development. Looking to the future, UNIDO should also continue to strengthen its functional advantages as a specialized agency for industrial development, promote and lead all parties to strengthen partnerships, and give full play to their respective strengths to form a joint force for development. Special efforts should be made to implement the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa initiative and steadily promote the pilot Programme for Country Partnership in order to help member states meet the challenges of industrialization.
Thank you, Mr. President.
