Premier Wen expected to make his debut on U.N stage

China's Premier Wen Jiabao is scheduled to attend the high-level meetings of the U.N Millennium Development Goals and the general debate of the 63rd session of the U.N General Assembly convened in New York next week. It will be his debut appearance on the U.N stage, and second trip to the U.S, in his tenure as Premier, following his four-day official visit in 2003.

Itineraries of Premier's U.N trip have yet to be publicized so far, but it was learned that the MDGs meetings are to be convened by the U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the incoming President of the 63rd U.N General assembly, Fr. Miguel Brockmann on September 25, and the 63rd plenary of the U.N General Assembly will formally open on September 23 with the presentation of a report by Ban Ki-moon to kick start the assembly's general debate.

A gathering of world leaders will speak from September 23 to October 1 at the U.N headquarters in a program that will attract more than 90 heads of state or government and other international figures, covering a spate of issues like poverty and famine, education and health, and environmental sustainability. Bilateral and multilateral talks for world leaders and prominent personalities are also expected to be held on the sidelines of the U.N General Assembly.

It is three years ago that China's voice was last heard when President Hu Jintao participated in the U.N Summit commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the United Nations. At the largest-scale ever U.N Summit, President Hu for the first time put forward the concept of 'social harmony,' and clearly elaborated on the dialectical relationship between social harmony and world peace, winning a universal approval of the international community.

The MDGs meetings and the 63rd U.N General Assembly are to be convened in a sensitive time, as the world situation is getting increasingly volatile with the global economy slowing down and new problems arising in the hot regional issues. It is obvious that Premier Wen will capture the world attention by voicing his views at the U.N podium on the development of China and the world.

China, as a standing member of the U.N Security Council and the world's most populous country, will be further stating its views on the agricultural issues and programs to aid Africa at the meetings, according to observers. China has been for all these years striving to be a responsible country in seeking to achieve the goals benefiting the entire mankind and sought after by the international community.

The MDGs are actually eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations, and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the U.N Millennium Summit in September 2000. The eight MDGs break down into 21 quantifiable targets that are measured by 60 indicators.

China has in recent years constantly streamlined its policies to solve the problems of people's livelihood, and scored remarkable achievements in poverty reduction and elimination, which is regarded an inalienable part in achieving the U.N Millennium Goals. Meanwhile, with the increasing enhancement of China's comprehensive national strength, the international community will exert more and higher expectations on China in wide arrays of issues like climate change and open market, and China is expected to assume more responsibilities and pressure in the years to come.

Premier Wen Jiabao, as a popular premier with a large circle of 'fans' within and outside of China, will face a new challenge making his first international positions at the U.N podium. But it is convincing that the Chinese Premier's typically sincere, easy-going and amiable style will impress the world and deliver a message to the international community that China remains a peace-loving developing country.

By People's Daily Online