Interview: There is an urgent need to strengthen international cooperation in the post-pandemic era – a visit to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 4 Interview: The post-epidemic era urgently needs to strengthen international cooperation - a visit to former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Xinhua News Agency reporter Su Liang Li Zhengyu

"In today's increasingly interconnected world, no country is an island." Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will participate in the "2021 Congdu International Forum" by video, said in an online interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago that countries around the world are facing many global challenges and need to adhere to multilateralism and provide solutions based on sustainability, partnership and solidarity.

Ban Ki-moon believes that multilateralism is the most important mechanism and tool for solving global challenges. Only by working on the basis of multilateralism and mobilizing all necessary resources and sharing them with all parties in need can we effectively stop the global spread of COVID-19, effectively address climate change, and help eradicate poverty globally.

Regarding the conservative and unilateral tendencies in some countries, Ban Ki-moon pointed out that "the high wall is not an opponent of viruses, wildfires, terrorism, floods and other transnational threats." For these global challenges, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation and respond to strong multilateralism on the basis of global partnership.

Ban Ki-moon said that in the face of the continuous spread of the epidemic around the world, China has provided COVID-19 vaccines and medical resources to many countries and regions in the world, making important contributions to the global response to the epidemic. He said that the most urgent task facing all countries in the world is to promote the equitable distribution of vaccines through multilateral cooperation, which is not only conducive to strengthening global multilateral cooperation, but also lays the foundation for a more stable and effective international order in the post-epidemic era.

Ban Ki-moon said that climate change is one of the most serious and urgent global challenges facing the international community, which requires countries to effectively strengthen cooperation to deal with it.

He said that China's major commitment to setting carbon peak and carbon neutral goals to deal with global climate change reflects China's highly serious attitude on this issue and its rapid and effective actions. The international community appreciates China's long-term positive role in the global response to climate change. Without China's support, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change would not have been possible. Previous consensus between China and the United States on addressing climate change also demonstrates the effectiveness of the two countries in this area.

Ban Ki-moon said this year coincides with the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the World Trade Organization. As a member of the WTO, China has continued to contribute to the promotion of a fair and mutually beneficial trading system over the past 20 years. He looked forward to China's future efforts to ensure the effective functioning of the WTO and promote the growth of global trade.

Founded in 2014, the "Congdu International Forum" is now jointly organized by the Chinese Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Australia-China Friendship and Exchange Association, the People's Government of Guangdong Province and the World Leaders Alliance. With the theme of "Multilateralism Version 2.0 – Global Cooperation in the Post-COVID-19 Era", more than 160 guests from more than 30 countries from the fields of politics, business and academia attended the forum online and offline. (End)