In a pre-recorded video to the General Assembly’s General Debate, Chinese President Xi Jinping today (21 Sep) said that the world is facing combined impacts of changes unseen in a century and the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that it falls on each and every responsible statesman to answer the question of our time and make a historical choice with confident, courage and a sense of mission.

He said that the world must beat COVID-19 and win this decisive fight crucial to the future of humanity. He reiterated that we should always put people and their lives first, adding that we need to respect science.

President Xi said, “vaccination is our powerful weapon against COVID-19. I have stressed on many occasions the need to make vaccines a global public good and ensure vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries.”

The Chinese President continued, “of pressing priority is to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines globally.”

He added, “China will strive to provide a total of two billion doses of vaccines to the world by the end of this year. In addition to donating 100 million US dollars to COVAX, China will donate 100 million doses of vaccines to other developing countries in the course of this year.”

The Chinese President also said China will continue to support and engage in global science-based origins, and stands firmly opposed to political maneuvering in whatever form.

President Xi also highlighted the world “must revitalize the economy and pursue more robust, greener and more balanced global development.”

He reiterated, “development holds the key to people’s wellbeing. Facing the severe shocks of COVID-19, we need to work together to steer global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth.”

The Chinese President proposed a Global Development Initiative which includes the needs of staying committed to development as a priority, staying committed to a people-centred approach, staying committed to benefits for all, staying committed to innovation-driven development, staying committed to harmony between man and nature, and staying committed to results-orientated actions.

Regarding the need to accelerate transition to a green and low-carbon economy and achieve green recovery and development, President Xi said, “China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060."

He continued, “this requires tremendous hard work, and we will make every effort to meet these goals. China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.”