Former Chinese Vice FinMin Li Yong confirmed as seventh UNIDO chief

Former Chinese Vice Finance Minister Li Yong was officially appointed as the 7th Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in a special session of the General Conference here on Friday. "It is a great honor for me to be appointed as the 7th Director-General of UNIDO... I assure you that I will carryout the mandate of UNIDO in earnest, and fulfill my duties in an independent, professional and impartial way," Li said during the conference. He said the UNIDO was faced with both challenges and opportunities, and that he would lead the organization to meet the diversified demands of member states in his term. The 62-year old experienced senior economic and financial policymaker won a majority of votes in the first round of voting in the Development Board of UNIDO on Monday. He is the first official from the Chinese mainland to head the UN organization. Commenting on the decline of donations from some of the developed economies in the context of the global economic downturn, Li told Xinhua that he would resolve the issue by building partnerships not only with countries, but also organizations and private sectors. "We must be adaptive, responsive, innovative, and effective," he said, quoting an ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu as saying that "a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step."