Mr. President,

I would like to congratulate you on your election to the presidency. 

UNTOC is one of the most comprehensive international legal instruments. It conveyed the firm conviction that transnational organized crime is a shared challenge facing the international community, and therefore countries must join hands to tackle it. UNTOC provides for an effective mechanism: countries adopt holistic legislative, law enforcement and judicial measures, laying a solid legal foundation for the fight against transnational organized crime. UNTOC established an authoritative platform, which allows countries to share best practices, build capacity and promote international cooperation within the framework of the Conference of the Parties. 

Since the adoption of the UNTOC, its universality has been significantly improved, practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results, and the global governance system for combating crime with UNTOC at the core has been continuously improved. This is the result of concerted efforts by all countries, and it scores a victory for true multilateralism.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government always uphold the people-centered development concept in its efforts to advance the rule of law, combat crime firmly and effectively, and build a safe China. As a result of all these efforts, China is now widely recognized as one of the safest countries in the world. China faithfully fulfills its obligations under the convention, actively engages in international cooperation and ratified last year the Firearms Protocol. Under the Global Security Initiative put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping, comprehensive and effective implementation of UNTOC is one of the key areas of cooperation. The recently held 3rd Plenum of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China has made strategic arrangements to deepen comprehensive reforms and advance modernization with Chinese characteristics. Strengthening the rule of law at international level and deepening international law enforcement and judicial cooperation feature prominently among these arrangements. China will continue to be an active participator and major contributor to global governance against crime.

Mr. President,

In today’s world, non-traditional security threats such as transnational organized crime are on the rise. The Pact of the Future, adopted at last month’s Summit of the Future, calls for “preventing and combating transnational organized crime”. To achieve this goal, UNTOC must be fully utilized. In this regard, I’d share the following recommendations:

1. Uphold multilateralism. We must support the United Nations and the authority of UNTOC. Unilateralism only leads to dead-end. We must uphold the purposes and principles of UN Charter and create a friendly atmosphere for cooperation based on respect for sovereign equality. We must uphold the Vienna Spirit of consensus, and pursue shared interests and win-win cooperation. 

2. Enhance political will. We must implement UNTOC comprehensively and in good faith and ditch selective application or double standards. We should make full use of UNTOC provisions for extradition and mutual legal assistance to make our cooperation more efficient. We should promote and facilitate asset recovery and return, so that countries of origin of assets and victims of crime could obtain fairness and justice.

3. Deepen coordination and cooperation. We should strive for synergy among different cooperation mechanisms against crime. UN efforts to combat crime should be integrated into BRICS, G20 and regional mechanisms, and should tap into the strengths of law enforcement cooperation mechanisms such as INTERPOL for mutual benefit. We also need to seek synergy between UNTOC and the newly adopted UN Cybercrime Convention upon its entry into force, so as to optimize resource allocation and utilization.

4. Strengthen capacity-building. Implementation review process should be leveraged to identify developing countries’ technical assistance needs and help them build their capacity. We should proactively address emerging crimes such as telecom scams and cross-border gambling, tackle new technological challenges brought by AI, and strengthen knowledge sharing and law enforcement cooperation with developing countries. When making international rules against crime, more attention should be given to developing countries’ needs, so as to ensure balanced and orderly progress.

As the biggest developing country and an important member of the Global South, China will continue to cooperate fully with all parties to ensure more comprehensive and effective implementation of UNTOC. Let us work together to build a more just and reasonable global governance system against crime, and build a human community of shared security. 

Thank you.