GENEVA (Realist English). China has been settling its annual dues to the United Nations later each year, aggravating the organization’s budget crisis. According to a Financial Times analysis of UN data, Beijing’s payments have slipped from two months late in 2021 to 10 months late in 2024, when it cleared the final instalment of its $480 million contribution just days before year-end. Only North Korea paid later.
The delays coincide with Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence at the UN and promote itself as an alternative to the U.S.-led order, even as President Donald Trump has distanced Washington from multilateral institutions. Both China and the U.S. are the UN’s largest contributors, but also among its biggest debtors. As of April 30, Washington owed about $3 billion across the regular and peacekeeping budgets, while Beijing owed nearly $1.2 billion.
“We can’t implement our budget fully or efficiently if all member states do not pay in full or on time,” UN Controller Chandramouli Ramanathan warned, noting that the UN was forced to cut its 2025 operating budget by 17% — about $600 million.
China’s share of the UN regular budget has surged from 0.99% in 2000 to 20% in 2025, or roughly $680 million, just behind the U.S. at 22%. Yet Beijing remains a relatively small donor of voluntary contributions, which account for most UN funding, giving just $150 million in 2023 compared with Washington’s $10 billion-plus.
Diplomats say China routinely offers no explanation for the delays. Its mission to the UN argues that “delays in payment due to procedural reasons” are not comparable to the U.S.’s long-term arrears, and has urged the Secretariat to improve budget management.
Experts remain puzzled. “Given China’s focus on influencing the UN system towards its point of view, I find it a little inexplicable why they’re delaying payments,” said David Scheffer, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The standoff underscores the financial fragility of the UN at a time when the world’s two biggest powers — its leading funders and rivals for influence — are also its most unreliable paymasters.
