China will make unremitting efforts with the international community to reinforce the role of the United Nations, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Shanghai Wednesday.

Li said at a press conference following the conclusion of the 60th session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) that it would conform to the interests of all sides to let the UN play its role in multilateral affairs.

The United Nations is the most authoritative international organization with a wide representation in the world so far, and its crucial role in maintaining world peace and stability, as well as in promoting common development cannot be replaced, Li noted.

"The UN is not omnipotent, but as a matter of fact there are not so many things in the world that are omnipotent," he said.

The most prominent issues in the contemporary world are peace and development. In the era of globalization, people all around the world are faced with challenges such as peace and security, economic and social development and environmental protection.

The UN can play its due role in resolving these problems, he said.

As for the UN reform, Li said the Chinese government fully supports the UN in undertaking essential and plausible reform, thus to improve its capacity in dealing with threats and challenges.

In the reform of the UN Security Council, he explained, more attention should be given to developing countries.

Chinese former Vice Premier Qian Qichen has joined the UN reform group, which has just concluded a seminar in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2004)