Activities of Secretary-General in China, 7-10 April

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres left New York on Friday, 6 April, for China.  He arrived in Beijing late on Saturday, 7 April.

On Sunday, the Secretary-General held bilateral meetings with the President of China, Xi Jinping, as well as with Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council; Yang Jiechi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee; and Wang Yi, State Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The following day, the Secretary-General visited the China Peacekeeping Police Training Centre.

He then travelled to Boao, in Hainan province, to attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018.

On Tuesday morning, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at the opening ceremony of the Forum.  He said that globalization is irreversible and that it has brought many benefits, with hundreds of millions of people who have risen from poverty.  But vast numbers of people are being left behind, he said.  He stressed the need for a fair globalization that leaves no one behind as a pathway to peace and sustainable development.  The Secretary-General added that we won’t make globalization fair by isolationism, protectionism or exclusion.  Global problems need global multilateral solutions and our contribution to a fair globalization is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (See Press Release SG/SM/18980)

The Secretary-General said there is another challenge that can undo all our best efforts to end poverty and promote universal peace and well-being — climate change.  This is a global threat in itself and a massive multiplier of other threats that is moving faster than we are.  He said that we need to dramatically raise our ambition, adding: “Science demands it.  The global economy needs it.  And humanity depends on it.”

Before leaving Boao, the Secretary-General also met separately with Shahid Abbasi, Prime Minister of Pakistan, as well as Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, Prime Minister of Mongolia.

The Secretary-General left China on Tuesday evening, 10 April, and arrived back in New York the same day.