China
A combined view of China's UN General Assembly speeches, treaty commitments, and voting record.
The narrative paragraphs below are AI-generated syntheses of the data shown — the tables and figures themselves come directly from the underlying records, not from the AI.
Compare with another country →Speech history
China's General Assembly rhetoric has oscillated between defensive nationalism and strategic multilateralism over the 20-year span, with two distinct periods of intensity. From 2006 to 2010, speeches emphasized measured consultation and China's own development path with moderate concreteness. Beginning in 2014, China substantially elevated its multilateralist framing (reaching peaks of 88–91 on multilateralism scores), coupling UN-centric rhetoric with increasingly concrete self-directed commitments in vaccines, climate, aid, and peacekeeping. However, from 2022 onward, while maintaining multilateral language, speeches have grown more self-promotional and sovereignty-assertive, with sharper criticism of Western unilateralism and Taiwan, suggesting a pivot toward defending national interests within a multilateralist frame rather than pursuing pure cooperative engagement.
| Session | Multilateralism | Emotional intensity | Concreteness | Self-accountability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | High | Low | Medium | Medium |
| 2007 | High | Low | High | Medium |
| 2008 | Medium | Low | Low | Medium |
| 2009 | Very High | Low | Medium | High |
| 2010 | Medium | Low | Medium | High |
| 2012 | High | Medium | High | High |
| 2014 | Very High | Medium | Medium | Low |
| 2015 | Very High | High | High | Very High |
| 2017 | High | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| 2018 | Very High | Medium | High | High |
| 2021 | High | Medium | High | High |
| 2022 | High | High | High | High |
| 2023 | High | Low | Medium | Medium |
| 2024 | High | High | High | Medium |
| 2025 | High | Medium | High | High |
Treaty status
Full treaty record →China has ratified 19 of 24 tracked treaties, demonstrating strongest commitment to environmental agreements—ratifying all nine environmental treaties tracked, including the Paris Agreement and Montreal Protocol—and human rights instruments, where it has ratified four of five core conventions. Its approach to arms control is notably selective: it ratified the Arms Trade Treaty but has not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (only signed) and actively refuses the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Mine Ban Convention, reflecting its nuclear-weapons state status and strategic interests. China also signed but has not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and takes no action on the International Criminal Court statute, indicating limits to its human rights and international justice commitments.
Arms control & security
- Arms Trade TreatyRatified
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban TreatySigned, not ratified
- Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their DestructionNo action
- Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear WeaponsNo action
Environment & climate
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their DisposalRatified
- Convention on Biological DiversityRatified
- Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
- Minamata Convention on MercuryRatified
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Paris AgreementRatified
- Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International TradeRatified
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic PollutantsRatified
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in AfricaRatified
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
Human rights
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or PunishmentRatified
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against WomenRatified
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesRatified
- Convention on the Rights of the ChildRatified
- International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsSigned, not ratified
International justice
- Rome Statute of the International Criminal CourtNo action
Trade & governance
- United Nations Convention against CorruptionRatified
- United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized CrimeRatified
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaRatified
Voting record
Full voting record →China votes affirmatively on approximately 79 percent of General Assembly resolutions (4,521 yes votes of 5,694 recorded), with abstentions (556, roughly 10 percent) and no votes (245, 4 percent) used selectively. Its rare dissents from consensus—all concentrated in the 1970s on nuclear disarmament and security guarantees for non-nuclear states—signal that China's voting isolation has diminished significantly over time, and its current pattern suggests alignment with broad UN majorities on most issues while maintaining strategic abstentions or opposition on matters touching national sovereignty, nuclear strategy, and great-power prerogatives.
Notable dissents from consensus
Implementation of General Assembly resolution 32/78 : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1978-12-14 · voted N · 99% voted yes
Conclusion of an international convention on the strengthening of guarantees of the security of non-nuclear states : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1978-12-14 · voted N · 99% voted yes
General and complete disarmament : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1977-12-12 · voted N · 99% voted yes
Urgent need for cessation of further testing of nuclear weapons : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1978-12-14 · voted N · 98% voted yes
Urgent need for cessation of nuclear and thermonuclear tests and conclusion of a treaty designed to achieve a comprehensive test ban; conclusion of a treaty on the complete and general prohibition of nuclear-weapons tests : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1977-12-12 · voted N · 98% voted yes
Human development
Full HDI record →Human Development Index: 0.797 (High), ranked #78 globally in 2023.
Combines life expectancy, education, and income into one comparable score, 0 to 1. Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025 — deterministic figures, not AI-generated.
1990–2023