China re-elected to UN Economic and Social Council for three-year term

China was re-elected on Wednesday to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the coordinating body for the economic and social work of UN agencies and funds, for a three-year term.

The UN General Assembly elected 20 new members to the ECOSOC, who will begin their terms on January 1, 2026.

The elected countries are China, India, Lebanon, and Turkmenistan from the Asia-Pacific states; Burundi, Chad, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone from the African states; Ecuador, Peru, and Saint Kitts and Nevis from the Latin America and Caribbean states; Croatia, Russia, and Ukraine from the Eastern European states; Australia, Finland, Norway, and Türkiye from the Western European and other states.

Among them, China, Australia, Finland, and Türkiye were re-elected.

In the first round of voting, 17 countries were selected, with one seat remaining vacant in the Eastern European states group. Russia then secured the seat in a restrictive round against Belarus.

In a by-election for rotation within the Western European and other states group, Germany was elected to a one-year term beginning January 1, 2026, replacing Liechtenstein. The United States was elected to a two-year term starting January 1, 2026, replacing Italy.

The ECOSOC, as one of the organs established by the UN Charter, oversees economic, social, developmental, cultural, and educational affairs within the UN. Comprising 54 member states, one-third of its membership is elected annually by the UN General Assembly for rotating terms.

China has maintained continuous membership in ECOSOC since 1972 and has actively contributed to the council's work throughout its tenure.

China re-elected to UN Economic and Social Council for three-year term

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday presided over a State Council executive meeting that studied work on building a unified national market and reviewed and approved a plan for the development of a modern emergency response system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

Noting that building a unified national market is essential to advancing high-quality development, the meeting called for deepening institutional frameworks in areas such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, social credit and market exit mechanisms.

The meeting also urged efforts to advance high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure to facilitate smooth economic circulation and effectively reduce logistics costs across society.

Emergency management is critical to protecting people's lives and property, the meeting said. It called for accelerating the development of a modern emergency response system, deepening reform and innovation in emergency management, and improving coordinated response mechanisms.

Efforts should be made to strengthen risk prevention at the source, enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning, and accelerate a shift in governance toward proactive prevention, according to the meeting.

A draft revision of the Law on the People's Bank of China was also discussed and approved in principle at the meeting, which decided to submit the draft to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.

Chinese premier chairs State Council executive meeting