United Nations - (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said Wednesday that China hopes the United Nations will prioritize its financial resources for development to better take into account the needs and concerns of developing countries.

Cheng Lei, Counselor of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, made the remarks at a meeting of the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres introduced the world organization's 2023 Program Plan and Proposed Program Budget.

Cheng said that the vast developing countries are facing greater challenges in the current situation in terms of economic recovery and are looking for better support from the United Nations, but the level of the budget of the development departments was characterized by a very slight increase that does not reflect the requirements and desires of developing countries.

"We hope that the (United Nations) General Secretariat can improve budget allocations to ensure that development is given priority with sufficient and sustainable financial resources, in order to respond to the actual difficulties and concerns of developing countries, and to promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," he added.

Cheng noted that China noted with concern that under Item 24, the Secretariat had for the first time listed resources for implementing the mandates expected to be adopted on behalf of the new and expanded mandates.

He said that prejudging the mandate of the UN General Assembly or the UN Human Rights Council and loading potential resources into the budget department runs counter to the basic principle of "mandate first, program next, budget last".

Cheng said that the program plans approved by the General Assembly lay the foundation for the program budget, reflecting the program plans from a financing perspective. These plans generally ensure that the United Nations will be able to accurately implement the mandates and priorities of Member States. None of them should be minimized or ignored. Any change in the budget method should not lead to weakness and disconnection between them.