UN President of General Assembly starts official visit to China, 1-4 February 2023
1 February 2023 – The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi today started an official visit to the People’s Republic of China, which will last until 4 February 2023, where he will meet with senior Government officials and with leading scientists working on sustainable development and water management projects.
While in Beijing, President Kőrösi will have talks with Mr. Li Keqiang, Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Mr.`Wang Yi, State Councilor, and the Foreign Minister Mr. Qin Gang.
A priority focus of the visit will be on science-related issues and meeting with officials in the fields of sustainable development and water management. As such, President Kőrösi will meet with Mr. Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment, Mr. Li Guoying, the Minister of Water Resources, and Mr. Chen Zhenli, Acting Administrator of the China Meteorological Administration.
The President will conduct several field visits relating to sustainable development. Among the locations is the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), a center created to support achievement of the SDGs. While at the Center, the President will have an exchange of views with Prof. Hou Jianguo, the President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other senior scientists working on satellite and sustainable development research. The President will be accompanied by Prof. Guo Huadong, Director of CBAS, who is the leading Chinese scientist working on the SDGs
Additionally, during his visit to China Institute for Water Resources and Hydropower Research in Beijing, he will have an interactive dialogue with water scientists.
Next, the President will travel with Mr. Wang Daoxi, Vice Minister of Water Resources, by highspeed train from Beijing to Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The President will visit the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which runs from the Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Han River to Beijing.
During his visit to Zhengzhou, the President will meet Mr. Lou Yangsheng, a Member of the Central Committee of CPC and the Secretary of CPC Henan Provincial Committee, to discuss local governments’ role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and their involvement in relevant UN discussions.
While in China, the President will also meet with Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, the UN Resident Coordinator in China, and hear about the projects in which the UN family in China is involved.
The President will be joined by his Chef de Cabinet László Szőke, the Chief Scientific Advisor Johannes Cullmann, as well as two other Office team members.
All efforts are made to keep the President’s trips as cost-, time- and environmentally-efficient as possible.