On April 21, 2016, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, who was attending the high-level signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as the special envoy of President Xi Jinping, met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the UN at the UN headquarters in New York. Zhang Gaoli conveyed kind greetings from President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to Ban Ki-moon, and Ban Ki-moon also asked Zhang Gaoli to convey his best wishes to Chinese leaders.

Zhang Gaoli noted that as the most representative and authoritative international organization, the UN plays an irreplaceable role in global affairs. When attending the series of summits marking the 70th anniversary of the UN last September, President Xi Jinping proposed the major initiative of establishing a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation as the core and building a community of shared mankind destiny as well as comprehensively expounded China’s policies and propositions on the future development of the UN. China will firmly stick to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and further support UN's role in such issues as resolving international hotspot issues, addressing global challenges and pushing forward the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China stands ready to increase its engagement in the UN work, expand cooperation fields and enrich cooperation content, so as to constantly push bilateral cooperation to new heights.

Zhang Gaoli expressed that the adoption of the Paris Agreement by the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris is of historic significance as it charts the course and sets the objective for global cooperation on addressing climate change beyond 2020. China highly appreciates the efforts made by the UN and Mr. Secretary-General yourself in promoting the signing of the Paris Agreement, and believes that the high-level signature ceremony would provide new impetus to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the process of international community in addressing climate change. China, which has always been participating in the negotiations on the Paris Agreement in a responsible, cooperative and constructive attitude, made major contributions to the success of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. China will continue to actively participate in and promote international cooperation on tackling climate change, promote an early entry into force as well as a full implementation of the Paris Agreement and actively conduct south-south cooperation on climate change.

Zhang Gaoli pointed out that as a major developing country, China considers the active efforts in fighting against climate change both an international responsibility and a domestic need to realize sustainable development. China will continue to pursue the development notions of innovation, coordination, green development, openness and sharing, devote vigorous efforts to green development, and take measures including creating more low-carbon pilot cities, developing near zero carbon emission demonstration areas and launching a national emissions trading system, so as to make new contributions to global ecological security.

Ban Ki-moon welcomed Zhang Gaoli to attend the high-level signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement as President Xi Jinping's special envoy, saying that China has played an important role in the final adoption of the Paris Agreement. He expressed that China has vigorously pushed for energy conservation and emissions reduction, as well as south-south cooperation, fully demonstrating its leadership in coping with climate change. The UN is ready to, together with China, beef up coordination and enhance cooperation, so as to advance the entry into force and implementation of the Paris Agreement. The UN expects China to continue its staunch support to UN regarding international cooperation in climate change efforts and other issues.

Zhang Gaoli also met with UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael Bloomberg.