Almaty, 21 May 2007

Mr. Chairman,

Mr. Executive Secretary,

Distinguished Delegates,

It gives me great pleasure to join you in Almaty at the 63rd session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Revisiting Almaty and once again embraced by the warm hospitality of the Kazakh people, I feel at home and also marvel at the remarkable progress of Kazakhstan. I sincerely thank the Kazakh Government and the Secretariat of ESCAP for their thoughtful arrangements.

Mr. Chairman,

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commission. Sixty years ago soon after the Second World War, the devastated Asia-Pacific countries were faced with the urgent task of reconstruction.

Sixty years later, our region enjoys general political stability, sustained economic growth, continuous social progress and accelerated integration. It is one of the most dynamic regions with the greatest potential in the world. The ideas of peace, cooperation and development have gradually taken roots in people's heart and become the main consideration for political choice and relations among countries in this region. Countries in the region are now facing rare opportunities and broad prospect for development.

However, there are still some destabilizing factors and uncertainties in the region. Hot-spot issues remain unresolved. Terrorism flares up from time to time. Economic growth needs to be evened out. Pressure on energy and resources increases and non-traditional security issues become more prominent. All these complicated issues get interwoven with each other and impede the development of the Asia-Pacific region.

How to seize opportunities and stand up to challenges together to bring greater benefits to the people in the region is what we should consider and work on. Here, I wish to share with you my views.

First, always take accelerating development as our top priority. Despite the remarkable economic growth in recent years, the Asia-Pacific region still has some deeply ingrained problems, such as weak foundation, poor quality of development and imbalance. Development will for a long time remain on the top of the agenda for the countries in this region and Asia-Pacific regional cooperation should also be centered on this task. Only faster development can create the basic conditions and possibilities for resolving other problems so that a harmonious Asia-Pacific could gradually take shape and be consolidated.

Second, firmly safeguard peace and stability. Most countries in this region went through the war sixty years ago. We fully understand the value of peace and stability and their importance to economic and social development and the well-being of the people. What happened in these six decades tells us disagreements and disputes between countries should be resolved through equal dialogue and friendly consultation. Today's peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific is the result of many years of hard efforts of all countries in this region, which we should value, safeguard and further consolidate.

Third, advocate interactions and dialogue in the spirit of openness and tolerance. Diversity is a major source for the evolution of human civilization and also an outstanding feature of the Asia-Pacific region. In this vast and populous region, countries are different in social system, development level, natural conditions and cultural tradition. The Chinese culture always advocates diversity and inclusiveness. Promoting interactions between different cultures and faiths and encouraging mutual learning between different social systems and development models will make our region a more colorful and dynamic one where peoples can live in peace and harmony, draw on each other's strength and accelerate development.

Fourth, continue to deepen regional cooperation for mutual benefit. In this world of globalization, no country can solve all problems single-handedly or live in isolation. Deepening cooperation and seeking win-win results is an effective way to meet challenges and also the inevitable choice to realize economic development and social progress. In the past more than 10 years, full cooperation has enabled the Asian-Pacific countries to successfully manage a series of transnational challenges such as the financial crisis, SARS, the tsunami and bird flu. We should bring regional cooperation to a higher level and extend it to more areas. There are quite a number of sub-regional cooperation mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific. We should support their effort to form a synergy through coordination and mutual complementarity.

Mr. Chairman,

The founding of ESCAP sixty years ago spearheaded regional cooperation. In these six decades, to carry out practical cooperation for the benefit of the people, ESCAP has made best use of its advantages to raise fund for Asia-Pacific countries' cooperation in poverty alleviation, trade, investment, transport, environment, health and other social and economic fields. It has incubated several influential regional cooperation institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank and the Asia-Pacific Telecommunications Union. It has also launched a number of important cooperation initiatives with far-reaching influence that have brought benefits to the people, such as the Asian Highway Network and the Trans-Asian Railway Network. Thanks to its unremitting efforts, ESCAP has made positive contribution to the promotion of prosperity and progress in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the changing circumstances, ESCAP should continue to encourage policy dialogue and coordination among countries, promote scientific development in the region, take part in the infrastructure development of the region, and help developing countries in the region to achieve the MDGs at an early date, thus making new contributions to the development of the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr. Chairman,

Health care is very important to economic growth and vice versa. Economic development provides the material base that health care needs, and a better health care system helps to ensure sustainable economic growth. To pursue economic growth without due attention to health care would cause temporary economic difficulties, and more importantly, long-term adverse impact.

For a long period, the Asia-Pacific led the world in economic development. But in recent years, the outbreak of new infectious diseases such as SARS and avian influenza and the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS rang the alarm about problems in health care in the region. These problems have, to some extent, affected regional economic development. The discussion on health care at this meeting is timely and important.

The Chinese Government puts medical care and public health high on its agenda and makes it clear that public health care should remain a non-profit social welfare program. The government is committed to establishing a basic health care system that covers both urban and rural areas and to improving the public health and medicare service systems. China is well on course to meet the MDGs in the field of health care with continued improvement in the health level of the Chinese people and notably more effective prevention and control of major disease and better response to health emergencies.

As a member of the Asia-Pacific family, China will work with other countries to strive for closer regional cooperation on health care and the betterment of all people in the Asia-Pacific. We would like to make the following proposals:

First, strengthen the will for cooperation to develop joint response to risks. As the impact of public health problems is often felt beyond national borders, serious infectious diseases have now become a common threat to the whole mankind that no single country is able to handle independently. Therefore the only effective way to tackle the multiple public health challenges is for the Asia-Pacific countries to strengthen their political will and take concrete steps of cooperation. The Chinese Government attaches importance to and actively engages in international health cooperation. In recent years, China has done its best to provide assistance to neighboring countries in cash and kind to help them fight SARS and other problems.

Second, expand technical cooperation to improve prevention and control capability. Science and technology is the key to prevent and fight diseases. Countries in the Asia-Pacific are not at the same level of medical technology, with a notable gap between developed countries and developing ones. This serious imbalance constrains the effectiveness of joint efforts on disease control in the Asia-Pacific. It is now a pressing need for the Asia-Pacific countries to strengthen technical exchanges and cooperation on health in order to close this gap. In recent years, China has carried out fruitful cooperation with relevant countries on epidemiological study, laboratory test, clinic diagnoses and disease treatment. There has been mutual technical support and joint efforts to develop vaccines and medicines on avian influenza and other diseases. We will continue our effort in this regard.

Third, set up coordination mechanism to share information and resources. The experience of SARS and avian influenza tells us that public health problems often happen unexpectedly, and spread fast and widely. We need to get accurate information of the situation on the ground, report and share latest development and quickly activate emergency response mechanism. Therefore, it is necessary for the Asia-Pacific countries to put in place a regional health coordination mechanism, maintain close communication, share information and experiences, and pool their strength together for joint prevention and control. In case of serious infectious diseases, China will continue to make full use of the various cooperation mechanisms available to release information timely, share prevention and control experience so as to minimize the impact of the epidemics.

Mr. Chairman,

During the process of promoting reform and opening-up and participating in regional cooperation, thanks to persistent efforts, the Chinese Government and people have found a path of scientific, harmonious and peaceful development. Scientific development means the pursuit of a people-oriented and sustainable way of industrialization with less input, consumption and pollution that will lead to coordinated and sustainable overall development. Harmonious development stresses that economic development should be accompanied by higher living standards of people through improved public services and greater social justice and equity so that all people will share the fruit of reform and opening-up. Peaceful development means China seeks a peaceful international environment to develop itself, whose development will, in turn, contributes to world peace and common development. The science-based, harmonious and peaceful development answers the call of today's times and is based on China's reality. It is a solemn commitment of China to the world.

Mr. Chairman,

ESCAP is an important channel for China to participate in regional cooperation. In face of the changing international and regional situation, we will cooperate more closely with ESCAP, strengthen exchanges with all other ESCAP members and strive for common prosperity and progress of all countries in the region, and a brighter future for the Asia-Pacific.

Thank you.