China has been a leading force in global humanitarian work, highly promoting capacity building in disaster response worldwide, said Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, during his visit to China from Thursday to Friday.
Since assuming his role in November 2024, Fletcher has made China one of his first stops, calling the country “a crucial partner” for UN humanitarian work. He specifically noted China's significant contributions to the Myanmar earthquake disaster relief efforts.
"This is my first visit as USG (Under Secretary General) and I wanted to come here within my first six months because China is a crucial partner for our work at the UN, but also particularly for our humanitarian work. If you look at the response, for example, to the earthquake in Myanmar, and I was there just a few weeks ago, the Chinese role in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake was crucial. You know, most of us can't imagine working through the night under those conditions of danger. It takes real skill, real expertise," said Fletcher.
According to data from the Ministry of Emergency Management, China's rescue teams have carried out 13 emergency humanitarian missions in 11 countries, including Indonesia, Turkey, and Myanmar. China is also the only Asian country to have two UN-certified heavy search and rescue teams. China has been working closely with the United Nations in areas such as emergency rescue capacity building and technical exchanges, according to Fletcher. Looking ahead, Fletcher expressed his hope that China would continue to expand its role in enhancing global emergency relief efforts and share its experience in related fields.
"I think the great opportunity in the future is, for China, not just to lead that work here and in the region, but to lead globally in setting the bar high, setting the standard high for disaster response, emergency response, and developing capacity in other nations as well to become an exporter of that disaster response model that has been so enhanced here in China," said Fletcher.
In addition, Fletcher highlighted the obstacles facing international humanitarian aid cooperation, particularly in light of recent funding cuts. Earlier this year, the U.S. government announced a temporary suspension of foreign aid, severely impacting UN relief programs.
"Right now, there are over 300 million people who need access to life-saving support and that requires 47 billion dollars' worth of support globally. And now with these cuts, we're having to pull back from so many lifesaving programs globally that we will be reducing our staff numbers, reducing our programs, and reducing our footprint in many of the countries in which we serve, then that does have a real impact on the number of lives that we can save," said Fletcher.
China shows leadership in global humanitarian work: UN Under Secretary General
The 10th China-Russia Expo opened on Sunday in Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang in northeast China, highlighting the resilience, vitality and mutual benefits of China-Russia economic ties.
Held from May 17 to 21, this year's expo covers a floor space of 55,000 square meters, with more than 1,500 companies from 46 countries and regions taking part. Nearly 300 Russian companies are attending, while over 5,000 buyers are expected.
Since 2014, the event has attracted more than 7,200 Chinese and Russian companies and over a million visitors.
The China-Russia Expo is the largest comprehensive exhibition platform between the two countries.
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin each sent congratulatory letters to the event, encouraging all sectors from both countries to seize the opportunity, make full use of their geographical proximity and economic complementarity, and further expand all-round practical cooperation.
"Leaders of the two countries have signed agreements to deepen practical cooperation, which we fully support. Russia and China stand side by side for common development, benefiting young people and all people. Such cooperation is timely and far-reaching. We are here in Harbin for the China-Russia Expo, coming from Russia's Sakha Republic. Our region is dominated by agriculture. We are seeking advanced farming technologies including irrigation equipment and harvesters. We hope to reach deals in the coming days to boost local development," said Vasiliy Petrovich Alexeev, head of Ust-Aidan Region of the Russian Federation.
"We are greatly inspired by the congratulatory letters from the heads of state of China and Russia. We will keep building targeted and efficient cooperation platforms, and smooth channels for sub-national exchanges between China and Russia," said Chen Shijun, president of Heilongjiang Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
China-Russia trade volume has surpassed 200 billion U.S. dollars for three consecutive years. China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 16 years running.
In the first quarter of this year, bilateral trade volume hit 60 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of more than 14 percent.
This year's Expo features eight major exhibition zones. Beyond the exhibition halls, Russian delegations have also conducted field visits to Chinese companies. A delegation from the Republic of Buryatia visited one of northeast China's largest building materials distribution centers to explore potential areas of cooperation.
"Regular China-Russia economic and trade events continuously bring fresh cooperation opportunities for both sides. This field trip to Xilong Building Materials Market has helped us explore more practical directions and modes for bilateral cooperation," said Alexei Tsydenov, head of the Republic of Buryatia of the Russian Federation.
"Relying on Buryatia's abundant mineral resources and sound logistics conditions, we plan to build industrial parks focusing on home building materials, mineral resources and energy sectors in Russia. We will introduce advanced Chinese technologies and management models to drive coordinated industrial upgrading between the two countries," said Wu Jinrong, vice president of Harbin Xilong International Trade and Logistics Park.
From everyday consumer goods to advanced helicopters, and from mineral resources to intelligent robotics, China-Russia cooperation now spans a wide range of sectors. Economic ties and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries continue to advance toward higher-quality development and broader prospects.
China-Russia Expo promotes trust, cooperation, mutual benefit
China-Russia Expo promotes trust, cooperation, mutual benefit
