(October 3, 2011, New Delhi, India)

Your Excellency Minister of State Jayanthi Natarajan,

Your Excellency Mr. Sha Zukang, Secretary-General for Rio+20,

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm very pleased to attend the Ministerial Dialogue on "Green Economy and Inclusive Growth", as the head of the Chinese Delegation. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was a great success.

Next year, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in the same city and also called Rio+20, will be another opportunity to map out sustainable development strategy for the next ten years.

The past two decades have witnessed some progress in promoting world sustainable development. But the goals and objectives formulated at the UNCED are yet to be fiilly realized. Moreover, new challenges, including financial crisis, regional unrest, food and energy deficiencies and natural disasters have compounded the existing difficulties. They hinder efforts on sustainable development of the world in general and developing countries in particular. We therefore have high hopes for Rio+20.We hope it can help strengthening political will, formulating concrete action plans and fiilly implementing political commitments. We hope it will add new vigor to the cause of sustainable development.

Since the beginning of the new century, many countries have attached high significance to the idea of green economy. They view green economy as a vital means to brave financial crisis and propel economic growth. Green economy has become a trend of global development.

But we have to acknowledge that green economy has its risks and costs which should be faced squarely. We should reject green barriers, maximize the benefits and mitigate the costs of green economy through international cooperation. Only by doing so, will green economy really benefit sustainable development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have a good agenda for this Ministerial Dialogue. Themed as "Green Economy and Inclusive Growth", the Dialogue provides an opportunity for in-depth discussion on how to relate green economy with poverty eradication, on how to mitigate food and energy crisis besetting developing countries, and on how to coordinate the three pillars of sustainable development especially how to strengthen the social pillar.

Poverty eradication is an issue that should never be underestimated, as it bears on the fundamental rights of survival and development of people living in developing countries. With 1.4 billion people mired in extreme poverty, one-sixth of the world's population undernourished and prominent energy bottleneck of developing countries, the top priority for green economy, in our view, is to eradicate poverty, eliminate starvation and meet energy needs in developing countries. Poverty eradication shall be prioritized and poverty-related objectives in MDGs shall be taken as a benchmark in formulating green economy policy. Developing countries, in their transformation towards green agriculture, need stronger support from developed countries in funding, technology transfer and market access. Meeting energy needs is also key to poverty eradication and green economy. Energy cooperation is an integral part of international development cooperation, with a view to developing and diffusing advanced energy technology. Developed countries should provide technological and financial support to developing countries in securing energy access, enhancing energy efficiency and using more renewable energy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

China attaches great importance to green and low-carbon economy. In our twelfth five-year plan starting from this year, the focus is to shift the pattern of economic development. A major objective of the plan is to promote sustainability and accelerate the transformation of production and consumption mode towards energy efficiency and environment friendliness. My colleagues will be happy to share with you our policy and practice during the following sessions.

In closing, I'm fully convinced that this Ministerial Dialogue will be fruitful and contribute greatly to the success of Rio+20!

Thank you!