China will continue to actively participate in the management of the global environment and contribute to the improvement of the environment in Asia and Europe, a senior Chinese official said in Copenhagen Wednesday.

Strengthening global environmental management is a vital issue the international community faces in handling various global environment problems, Zhou Jian, vice minister of China's State Environment Protection Administration, told the 3rd meeting of Asia Europe Environment Ministers (ASEM).

The position of the Chinese government is that the international community needs to cooperate over global environment management and expedite the realization of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, Zhou said.

To create a new international management mechanism, Zhou said efforts should be made to create a "mutually trustworthy, mutually beneficial, equal, and coordinative" international atmosphere. He said this would allow international environment problems to be solved.

He also proposed that the role of the United Nations Environment Program should be strengthened in coordinating the work of international environment bodies.

The two-day ASEM meeting, which ended Wednesday, brings together 37 European and Asian ministers and their delegations to discuss climate warming, sustainable energy, threats to biodiversity and deforestation.

(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2007)