Zhang said the Chinese government held that maintaining peace and security for humankind was the core of anti-terrorism while universal development and common prosperity was the basis.

Closer communication and integration among societies constituted the guarantee of anti-terrorism, to which stronger international cooperation was the key factor, said Zhang, noting that Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan's address to the meeting on Monday elucidated the Chinese government's principled stance and positions.

There are still frequent terrorist attacks in the world despite marked progress scored in the international anti-terror campaign after the September 11 incident in 2001, Zhang noted.

International anti-terror cooperation was the common aspiration and urgent demand of the global community and China would consistently support the United Nations playing a leading role in fighting terror, she said.

The foreign ministers meeting at the UN Security Council was highly significant, she added, as it not only reviewed the anti-terror campaign so far but charted the direction guiding the future international cooperation.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met with UN General Secretary Kofi Annan during the meeting and they conferred on how to strengthen the UN's role in anti-terror arenas and to resolve regional conflicts, Zhang said.

During the meeting, Tang also met with the US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, German Deputy Chancellor and Foreign Minister Joseph Fischer, and Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, said the spokeswoman.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2003)