Earlier today, the Secretary-General had a conference call with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. 
 
The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation for China’s strong support to the United Nations and multilateralism. The Secretary-General also expressed the wish for enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the People’s Republic of China in all the pillars of the Organization’s work – Peace and Security, Sustainable Development, including Climate Change and Biodiversity, and Human Rights.  
 
The Secretary-General outlined the commitment of the United Nations to the success of the COVAX facility and to contribute to the establishment of a global vaccination plan able to double the production of vaccines, with an equitable distribution network to everyone, everywhere.  He also highlighted the initiatives designed to support debt relief and increased liquidity to lower- and middle-income countries in need, in the context of post-COVID-19 recovery.  
 
In the conversation, the Secretary-General also expressed his commitment to contributing to the success of the Biodiversity COP15 in Kunming, the Sustainable Transport Conference in Beijing, and the Climate COP26 in Glasgow, by mobilizing the international community, based on the science of the IPCC reports, to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and to reach global carbon neutrality by mid-century.  
 
The Secretary-General said that he is looking forward to all countries embracing ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions in terms of mitigation, adaptation and finance, guaranteeing the necessary support for developing countries.