by Xinhua writer Sun Yi
BEIJING, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General designate Antonio Guterres told Xinhua this week that China plays a fundamental role to global development, one which is not only effective but also fair.
He gave the interview on Tuesday on the sidelines of his two-day visit to China from Monday, during which he met several Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping.
Hailing the tour to China as an "important and useful" visit, Guterres said it was an opportunity, once again, for him to "be aware of the very strong commitment of China in supporting the UN and the multilateralism."
"China is more and more involved in international affairs, and that is very much welcomed," he said.
Guterres said that he believes China, as an important country and key player in the international relations, can be a broker, a facilitator, or a catalyst, to help others that still have contradictions of interests come together and understand how conflict affects different groups of society.
Guterres said it was very important to look into the way that the UN works, as it is excessively bureaucratic which can have a paralyzing effect in the way it operates.
He said enormous efforts are needed to simplify procedures, decentralize decisions, and be more flexible in order to realize quick deployment, and to effectively address common challenges.
On the other hand, he said it is clear that all UN agencies and departments must be committed to support member states, which are the key actors of related programs, and to support member states to achieve the goals of UN 2030 Agenda.
"We need to make sure that all UN departments work together with the same objectives in an coordinated way," he said, adding that it means each entity should not only work toward its own mandate, but also global objectives.
Guterres said that the truth is that the least developed countries have not had enough support and solidarity from the international community, and one of the ways to increase this is to allow them to have stronger voice and influence in the way the UN works and different multilateral organizations operate.
He noted that if people want globalization to succeed, and if people want to defeat all forms of protectionism, they must not leave anyone behind.
He said that he thought it would be important to visit the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, especially to have frank discussions on peace and security.
He added that consultation is important to see "how we can come together more effectively to make peace become again the central objective of the UN activities."
Guterres will start his five-year term on Jan. 1, 2017. He was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015.
