On November 12, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mao Ning presided over a regular press conference. A question from the general station reporter: Belgium and Chile announced on October 6 that they will jointly bid for the secretariat of the Marine Biodiversity Agreement, stating that they intend to locate the secretariat in Valparaiso, Chile, the information exchange mechanism in Brussels, Belgium, and use Brussels as the venue for subsidiary body meetings. What comments does the Chinese side have on this? Mao Ning said that since this year, China has nominated Xiamen to bid to host the Marine Biodiversity Agreement secretariat, which has received support from most parties to the Agreement within a short period of time. On November 6, without consulting with a broad range of parties to the Agreement, Belgium and Chile announced a joint bid to host the secretariat, publicly stating that the secretariat would be located in Valparaiso, Chile, the clearing-house mechanism would be located in Brussels, Belgium, and that Brussels would host meetings of subsidiary bodies. This move arbitrarily deals with matters that should be decided by the Conference of the Parties. There are at least 6 “inconsistencies”: one is not in line with the provisions of the agreement; two is not in accordance with procedural justice; three is not in line with international practices; four is not in line with geographical balance; five is not in line with fair competition; and six is not in line with the original intention of the commitment.

On November 12, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mao Ning presided over a regular press conference. A question from the general station reporter: Belgium and Chile announced on October 6 that they will jointly bid for the secretariat of the Marine Biodiversity Agreement, stating that they intend to locate the secretariat in Valparaiso, Chile, the information exchange mechanism in Brussels, Belgium, and use Brussels as the venue for subsidiary body meetings. What comments does the Chinese side have on this? Mao Ning said that since this year, China has nominated Xiamen to bid to host the Marine Biodiversity Agreement secretariat, which has received support from most parties to the Agreement within a short period of time. On November 6, without consulting with a broad range of parties to the Agreement, Belgium and Chile announced a joint bid to host the secretariat, publicly stating that the secretariat would be located in Valparaiso, Chile, the clearing-house mechanism would be located in Brussels, Belgium, and that Brussels would host meetings of subsidiary bodies. This move arbitrarily deals with matters that should be decided by the Conference of the Parties. There are at least 6 “inconsistencies”: one is not in line with the provisions of the agreement; two is not in accordance with procedural justice; three is not in line with international practices; four is not in line with geographical balance; five is not in line with fair competition; and six is not in line with the original intention of the commitment.