Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning！

First of all, I would like to thank the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for inviting me to attend the High-Level Dialogue on Early Warnings for All during the 19th World Meteorological Congress, where we all get together to discuss this important topic, early warning. As this year also marks the 150th anniversary of the International Meteorological Organization, I would like to take this opportunity to express the warmest congratulations to WMO on behalf of the Chinese government.

Since 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward such cooperation initiatives as the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and the Belt and Road Initiative , the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. These ideas and principles align with the “Early Warnings for All Initiative” proposed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and spearheaded by WMO in improving global security, promoting sustainable development, and strengthening international cooperation.

Ladies and gentlemen，

As China is one of the countries facing the most serious meteorological disasters in the world, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the meteorological early warning. In 2019, President Xi Jinping requested the meteorological service to accelerate technological innovation, in a bid to achieve sophisticated monitoring, precise forecasting, and tailored services, and give full play to meteorology as the first line of defense against disasters. In 2022, the State Council of China issued the Guideline on Promoting the High-Quality Meteorological Development (2022-2035), aimed at accelerating the modernization of meteorology and ensuring safe life, robust production, affluent livelihood, and sound ecology. This also fully demonstrates the Chinese path to modernization in the field of meteorology. Through years of practice, China has put in place a meteorological disaster reduction mechanism featuring government leadership, early warning, cross-department coordination, and social participation. The role of meteorological service in disaster risk reduction and its benefits are becoming increasing prominent. The meteorological warning information now has covered 97.7% of the public, and meteorological service has become one of the public services that boast the widest coverage and the greatest public satisfaction in China.

Ladies and gentlemen，

China has been always supporting WMO as its important Member. In September 2022, the then State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated during his attendance at the United Nations High Level Meeting on Climate Change that “China supports the universal early warning system initiative launched by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres”. As you may know, CMA and WMO jointly organized the Belt and Road Forum on Early Warnings for All in China this April. During the forum, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, who oversees meteorological development, met with Secretary General Petteri Taalas and reiterated the Chinese government’s support for the Early Warnings for All Initiative. Professor Taalas, on behalf of WMO, signed the Agreement on Cooperation in Support of the United Nations Early Warnings for All Initiative with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China and CMA, to jointly support the enhancement of early warning capabilities globally, especially for developing countries.

Over the past 10 years, China has provided meteorological equipment and technical support for approximately 35 developing WMO Members, including Fengyun meteorological satellite reception and application systems, automatic weather stations (AWSs), warning reception terminals, and weather program studios. 32 Members have become users of the emergency support mechanism for disaster prevention and mitigation for international users of the Fengyun meteorological satellites; 129 Members have benefited from Fengyun satellite products; nearly 400 people have received scholarships from the Chinese government for their undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees in meteorology; and over 11,000 people have participated in international meteorological training courses in China. China is also exploring the joint development of a cloud-based early warning support system together with relevant Members, to help them realize accurate and real-time early warning. Fengyun meteorological satellites and the World Meteorological Centre Beijing will continue to provide all-round support to Members in need.

In the future, China is willing to share its practices and experience in early warning, work with Meteorological and Hydrological Services of developing countries for enhanced technical capabilities in monitoring, forecasting, and warning, and continue to provide support for early warning capacity building in developing countries within the framework of South-South cooperation.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Dr. CHEN Zhenlin, CMA Administrator, and Dr. ZHANG Wenjian, Assistant Secretary General of WMO. They are senior experts in meteorology and early warning, and I believe they will make greater contributions to the implementation of the Early Warnings for All Initiative within the WMO Secretariat and Executive Council.  

Finally, I wish this High-Level Dialogue a complete success with fruitful results, and wish you all a wonderful stay in Geneva!

Thank you!