China stresses 'capacity to pay' principle over UN dues

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-06 09:11

UNITED NATIONS: China stressed on Monday the importance of following "capacity to pay" principle while the United Nations considers the scale for determining member states' dues to the organization's budget.

Liu Zhenmin, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, made the statement to the meeting of the Fifth Committee of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly on the scale for determining member states' dues to the organization's budget in 2010-2012.

"China stands ready to make an even greater contribution to the UN on the basis of capacity to pay, as our economy continues to grow," he said.

But, despite its rapid economic development and impressive gross domestic product figures, China was the country with the largest population, which still faced enormous challenges at home, Liu said.

In 2008, China's per capita gross domestic product stood at $3,000, ranked around the 100th place in the world and still a far cry from the average per capita Gross National Income (GNI) of $7,119 (the threshold), he said.

"By the standard of the World Bank which considers those living on less than $1.25 a day as poor, China's poverty population will total 250 million, the second largest in the world," he said.

"Economic development, poverty eradication and the realization of modernization remain daunting challenges for China," Liu said. "The evaluation of China's capacity to pay should not be conducted without taking into account China's specificities."