On October 11, 2021, the Sixth Steering Committee Meeting of the China-UN Peace and Development Fund was held via video link. Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations and Ambassador Zhang Jun, UN Chef de Cabinet of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General Maria-Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin, Director-General of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences of the Foreign Ministry Yang Tao, and Director-General of the Department of Administrative and Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Finance He Zhenguo attended the meeting as members of the Steering Committee.
The fund was announced to be established by President Xi Jinping at the summits marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN) in September 2015, aiming to support the work of the UN and promote multilateral cooperation. During the General Debate of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2020, President Xi Jinping announced that China will extend the fund for five years after it expires in 2025, receiving high comments worldwide. Since the fund was established, China has injected a total of 120 million U.S. dollars into the fund. The fund has supported 95 projects, benefited the developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania, and gave strong supports to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN's efforts in the fields of international peace and security.
The meeting reviewed the operations and financial status of the fund since its establishment in 2015, discussed the progress of the approved projects, endorsed the list of funded projects for 2021, and identified the key areas and priority fields of support.
The UN Secretariat expresses its deep appreciation to the Chinese government for the generous contribution. It said, in the past years, the fund has played an important role in supporting the UN in responding to challenges in the field of international peace and security and in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At present, the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging, the global economy is struggling to recover, international cooperation is being put to an unprecedented test, and multilateralism is the only way out to respond to the threats and challenges. It hopes that China will continue to support the UN in playing a greater role.