Your Excellency Director-General Tatiana Valovaya,

Distinguished Director General of the Health Commission of Jilin Province Ms. XU Xiaohong,

Director General of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Mr. WU Zhendou,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be joined by you at the Palais des Nations for the event Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Today is the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, or commonly known as Chongyang, the Double Ninth Festival. In ancient China, the number nine was regarded as an auspicious one. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival became a time when people celebrate the autumn harvest, pray for health and longevity, and honour the elderly members of their families. It's thus a most befitting opportunity to talk about health and wellness.

TCM is a discipline encompassing the wisdom and artistry of life. A vital treasure of Chinese civilization, it carries the wisdom of the Chinese nation spanning thousands of years on health and philosophy, with an aim to pursue harmony between humanity and nature, body and mind. First, it has a long history. TCM possesses complete history and inheritance. Take today's featured ingredient, ginseng: China has discovered and utilized it for over 4,000 years, with its medicinal value and cultural significance becoming integral to Chinese civilization. Second, it is open and inclusive. TCM integrates the medical traditions of multiple ethnic groups, including Han, Xizang, Mongolian, and Uyghur, while absorbing the essence of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and other elements of traditional Chinese culture. In the modern history, it has been increasingly complementary with Western medicine. Third, it evolves with the times. From Chinese ancestor Shennong tasting hundreds of thousands of herbs, to the great herbalist Li Shizhen compiling Compendium of Materia Medica (an encyclopedia of herbal medicines)— the first systematic classification of medicinal plants — and to female scientist Tu Youyou’s discovery and successful extraction of artemisinin for the treatment of malaria, TCM has continued to advance through upholding its essence while pursuing innovation. Most recently, Chinese experts made successful stories in Wuhan by using TCM in the effective control of Covid-19. Today, China is committed to enhancing the scientific and technological innovation capabilities of TCM, empowering traditional wisdom with modern technology to meet global health needs.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the UN. Changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the world, with humanity facing common challenges such as public health crises, climate change, and unbalanced development. As fellow inhabitants of this global village, we should stand together in solidarity, pursue exchanges and mutual learning, and jointly contribute to addressing global challenges and upholding multilateralism with the UN at its core. Recently, the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was successfully convened, which deliberated and adopted the recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan, sending out the message that China is committed to win-win cooperation with the rest of the world. Today's theme offers a unique perspective. We are ready to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with all countries, using traditional Chinese medicine as an important bond to promote people's health and enhance mutual learning among civilizations:

— Under the Global Security Initiative, we advocate the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security by integrating traditional medicine with modern technology, with an aim to enhance global capacity to respond to public health events;

— Under the Global Development Initiative, we strengthen cooperation in public health and traditional medicine with you all, enabling TCM to better benefit people worldwide, particularly the elderly and people in vulnerable situations, thereby contributing to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

— Under the Global Civilization Initiative, we promote equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness,and encourage countries to deepen exchanges in TCM, health culture and other fields, jointly advancing human civilization;

— Under the Global Governance Initiative, we actively engage in health cooperation within the UN’s framework, improve the global governance architecture, and pool strength for global governance to jointly contribute more resources and international public goods, thereby enhancing the sense of fulfillment, safety, and well-being for people of all nations.

Thank you.