The International Cooperation Center and the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in China held the Summit of the Future China Preparatory Meeting and the Wulingyuan Exchange Seminar

The International Cooperation Center Joint Council (ICC) and the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in China led a high-level expert group to Changsha and Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province to hold the United Nations Summit of the Future China Preparatory Meeting and Wulingyuan Exchange Seminar between May 14 to 16, 2024. In the course of cooperation, the Chinese side witnessed the key role played by the UN Resident Coordinator in China, Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, and the UN Resident Coordinator Office in China in convening, connecting and promoting action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

During the meeting, representatives of the ICC and the UN Resident Coordinator Office in China jointly signed the "International Cooperation Initiative for the Future". The participants agreed that with the strong support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the United Nations, the deepening cooperative relationship between the ICC Joint Council and the UN Resident Coordinator Office in China will play an important role in advancing the process of global sustainable development.

The United Nations Summit of the Future

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in June 2020, UN Member States issued a declaration containing 12 overarching commitments and asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make recommendations to address current and future challenges. In September 2021, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded with his report, Our Common Agenda, which sounded the alarm to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and advance the commitments contained in the Declaration to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, and made recommendations to close strategic gaps in global governance arrangements. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the ministerial preparatory meeting for the Summit of the Future in September 2023 that a multipolar world is emerging. The international community generally believes that the right direction at present is to give play to the role of the United Nations, improve the global governance system and elevate the status of developing countries.

The Common Agenda calls for the Summit of the Future to forge a new global consensus on multilateral solutions to current and future problems. Some of the proposals relate to gaps that have emerged since 2015, for which new intergovernmental agreements are needed. That is why the report calls for a new global consensus to prepare for a future full of risks but also opportunities. The General Assembly welcomed the "rich and pragmatic" report and agreed to hold the United Nations Summit of the Future (Summit of Heads of States and Government) at the United Nations on 22-23 September 2024, preceded by a ministerial meeting in 2023. United Nations member states are expected to agree, through intergovernmental negotiations, on an action-oriented Pact for the Future on the issues decided to advance.

The UN Summit of the Future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen solidarity and cooperation to address major challenges, close gaps in global governance, reaffirm existing commitments, including to the Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Charter, and revitalize the multilateral system so that it is more capable of making a positive impact on people's lives. Building on the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Summit, UN member states will consider how to lay the foundation for more effective global cooperation to address today's challenges and the new threats of tomorrow. The UN Summit of the Future is committed to promoting the common development of all countries and regions in the world, safeguarding the common security of the international community and building a common future for all mankind.