16-19 May 2012, UNDP Administrator to Visit China

Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, kicked off her official visit to China today. As her first stop of the visit, Miss Clark met with Mr. Xie Zhenhua, Vice-Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in an effort to deepen the collaboration between the two parties.

Senior government and business leaders gathered in the Chongqing to discuss how the Liangjiang New Area can contribute to sustainable development through its businesses.

Ms. Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Chair of the United Nations Development Group, will pay an official visit to China from 16 to 19 May. During her visit, Miss Clark will hold high-level discussions with state leaders and senior government officials on future collaboration with UNDP, as well as the major outcomes of the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference, expected to be the largest event in the history of the United Nations.

People across China were sent a powerful message today as UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador and leading actress Zhou Xun released a video message calling on the public to share their hopes for the future. The video is intended to remind people of the power of a positive vision for the future ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) later this year in June.

More than 400 students participating in the 2012 Beijing Model United Nations were given insights into the issues and challenges that will be discussed by world leaders when they gather at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development later this year. The event was held over a period of three days from 6-8 April 2012, during which students were able to engage with representatives from the United Nations system in China.

An award ceremony was held in Beijing to acknowledge a series of awards received by the UNDP China Office at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific Cluster Meeting in Delhi (India). The awards included a Knowledge Management/Sharing Award in recognition of the success of the Technical Task Force Project (TTF) in China and its subsequent piloting in Sri Lanka.

Identifying China's achievements in social and political reform over the last 30 years was at the heart of a UNDP Policy Dialogue led by Professor Yu Keping of the China Centre for Comparative Politics and Economics and the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau.

Recognising public participation as an integral part of the law making process in China, an international workshop was held in Changsha, Hunan Province, on 26-28 March 2012.

During its reform and opening up, China has passed 240 new laws, 760 administrative regulations and over 8,600 regulations. Naturally, some of these laws have conflicting norms, and as a White Paper launched in October 2011 highlighted, significant work was required to ensure that new and existing local laws are consistent with national laws. As part of this work, a forum was held in Huangshan, Anhui Province, on 26-28 March 2012, to share international experiences in ensuring legal harmonisation between the constitution, laws, administrative legislations and the role played by parliament.

The China International Urbanisation Forum was held on 25 March 2012 in Luodian Town, Baishan District - the location of UNDPs pilot sites testing innovative approaches to promote social inclusion for migrant workers and their families in Shanghai's rapid urbanisation process.

UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Ms. Renata Dessallien, travelled to Ningbo on 5-6 March 2012, to hold discussions on potential areas of cooperation.

Efforts to help ethnic minority women living in poor rural communities start their own small businesses gained overwhelming support from more than 12,000 participants at the Mary Kay Cosmetics China Leadership Meeting in Macao.

Following some major breakthroughs in the promotion of environmental rights, a joint press briefing was organised by the UNDP and the All-China Environment Federation (ACEF) on 10 February 2012, in Beijing.

The deadline for submissions to the Asia-Pacific Cartoon Contest on Climate Change and Human Development has been extended, and the call for submissions for the cartoon contest will now run until February 21st 2012.

As China continues to progress towards its vision of creating a equitable and harmonious Xiaokang society, Ms. Silvia Morimoto, UNDP Deputy Country Director, attended the 6th Innovations and Excellence in Chinese Local Governance Award Ceremony on 8 January 2012.

On 27 December 2011, UNDP and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) launched a pioneering joint pilot initiative with the Government of Cambodia.

In conjunction with UNDP's efforts to promote South-South Cooperation and export its highly successful Technical Task Force (TTF) model to other developing countries around the world, UNDP China and UNDP Sri Lanka came together to organise a high-level overseas mission for the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and arranged in-depth dialogue sessions with the Sri Lankan Government on 18-23 December 2011.

Following sustained efforts to support the government's implementation of relevant policies designed to protect the interests of migrant workers, a closing symposium was held by the UN System in China on 15-16 December 2011, to celebrate achievements made during a joint three-year programme under the Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund's Youth, Employment and Migration initiative.

Jointly organised by UNDP, Renmin University and Lingnan University, an international forum on "South-South Sustainability" was held in Hong Kong on 12-14 December 2011.

In a major breakthrough of promoting government information disclosure and transparency in China through judicial review in China, UNDP-supported All-China Environment Federation (ACEF) have successfully won the first public interest lawsuit of its kind in China.

On 9 December, Ms. Renata Dessallien, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, joined Mr. Li Jianguo, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the National People's Congress; Mr. Luo Haocai, Vice Chairman of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Mr. Chen Jiping, Secretary-General, CPC Committee of China Law Society and Mr. Zhang Yong, Director, Food Safety Law Office of the State Council, in addressing a crowd of senior party, government and academic leaders at China's First Food Safety Law Summit sponsored by China Law Society in Beijing.

At an official side event held on 5 December 2011 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, leaders from China's National Development Reform Commission (NDRC) and United Nations Development Programme gathered together to discuss China's approach to climate change.

In the midst of the United Nations Climate Change Forum in Durban, South Africa, a side event was held on 5 December 2011 to showcase the newly formed National Climate Change Strategy Research and International Cooperation Centre (NCSC).

Ms Silvia Morimoto, Deputy Country Director took part in the 2011 China Volunteerism Development Forum in the distinguished Great Hall of People on December 5th, 2011 to celebrate the International Volunteer Day and mark the International Year of Volunteers 10th Anniversary.

The 2011 Beijing Forum was held on 4-6 November 2011, with the theme of "The Harmony of Civilisations and Prosperity for All - Tradition and Modernity, Transition and Transformation". As a global platform for finding solutions to human development issues, the forum's 500 participants, including Ms. Renata Dessallien, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, and senior government leaders and experts from around the world, came together to discuss how to enhance academic development and social progress across the world.

At the China Association of Women Entrepreneurs International Forum held at the Beijing Wanshou Hotel on 3 Dec, Ms. Silvia Morimoto, UNDP China Deputy Country Director, joined Madam Gu Xiulian, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress, in addressing more than 300 women business and government leaders on the topic of women and economics.

President of Xinhua News Agency, which co-organized the "Zoom-in on Poverty Global Photo Contest" with UNDP, urged more media contribution in poverty reduction around the world, as China raises poverty line.

Mr. Napoleon Navarro, UNDP Deputy Country Director, and Mr. Timothy Sutton, United Nations International Children's Education Fund Deputy Representative in China, joined members of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), at a celebratory event held on 1 December 2011.