From November 26-27, the United Nations Association of China (UNA-China) hosted the 21st East Asian Seminar on the United Nations System virtually. The Seminar focused on peace and security in East Asia, implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, recovery of the global economy, energy transformation and ocean environment protection. Ms. HU Wenli, Vice-President and Director-General of the UNA-China, Dr. Tetsuya YAMADA, President of the Japan Association for United Nations Studies, and Dr. LEE Shin-wha, President of Korea Academic Council on the United Nations System and more than 40 experts and scholars from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) participated in the Seminar.

In the opening remarks, Ms. HU Wenli said, the international situation is undergoing complicated changes, instability and uncertainties are mounting, and the world is facing unprecedented challenges. We should uphold multilateralism and safeguard world peace and security, insist on openness and inclusiveness and promote a more resilient global growth, insist on cooperative development and cope with risks and challenges together, and insist on innovation and stimulate potentiality and vigour of cooperation. East Asian countries should cooperate in security, economy, crisis response and science and technology innovation for a brighter future. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stressed that China will adhere to the path of Chinese modernization and promote a human community with a shared future. China will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, a defender of the international order, and a provider of public goods. She hopes that civil societies from China, Japan and the ROK work together and contribute to the regional and world peace, development and cooperation.

Scholars from China, Japan and the ROK said, the three countries should work together to safeguard the security of the region, facilitate coordination in the field of food, energy, climate change and ocean protection and etc., boost regional integration and promote the peace and prosperity in East Asia and the world at large.

The East Asian Seminar on the United Nations System is an annual academic exchange mechanism of UN issues among China, Japan and the ROK, which is held on rotation.