III. Marking the 70th anniversary of the UN, the world needs to come together to make it a strong champion of peace and security and vigorous advocate of development and prosperity. China suggests that the UN prioritize work in the following areas.
(1) Development is the shared aspiration of all countries. We need to seize the historic opportunity of the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development to be held this coming September to marshal the political will and consensus for promoting global development. We need to ensure sound follow-up implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, uphold the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, respect each other's national conditions and development model and path, work together to eliminate extreme poverty, advance coordinated development of the economy, society and environment, narrow the North-South gap, and achieve common prosperity and development.
(2) A more equitable and balanced global partnership for development provides a solid underpinning for common development. It is imperative that developed countries honor their due international responsibilities and commitments on official development aid and push forward North-South cooperation. As a complement to North-South cooperation, developing countries may enhance South-South cooperation to seek strength through unity and help enrich the development partnership. China and the UN will jointly hold a round table on South-South cooperation in September as leaders gather for UN summits to redouble efforts for more effective South-South cooperation under the framework of the post-2015 development agenda.
(3) The General Debate of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) carries special significance. At this most august forum in the UN, countries can discuss such momentous issues as preventing war, achieving harmonious coexistence between countries and civilizations, promote greater democracy and the rule of law in international relations, building a new type of international relations on the basis of win-win cooperation, making the world a better place, and enhancing the role of the UN so as to point the way forward for the world as well as the UN.
(4) Gender equality and women's empowerment are important measures of human development and progress. China and UN Women will hold a global summit on women at the UN headquarters in September this year. We hope that various parties will actively support and attend this summit, make political commitments on implementing the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action adopted on the Fourth World Conference on Women and fulfilling the goals relating to women in the post-2015 development agenda, and provide financial support for this endeavor.
(5) International peace and security is still challenged by various traditional and non-traditional security threats. At the core of the international collective security mechanism, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It is vitally important to strengthen the international collective security mechanism, encourage political settlement of regional hotspot issues, and enable the Security Council to better perform its responsibilities under the UN Charter.
