China has always held the Iraqi issue should be solved peacefully by political means, and it supports the United Nations' role in this respect, says Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

He was speaking in Beijing on Monday afternoon at a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who arrived here earlier in the day for a working visit.

Praising the UN's important role in international affairs, Jiang said it had contributed in the past five decades to safeguarding world peace and promoting cooperation and development.

Jiang said he hoped the UN would keep playing a crucial role in international affairs in the new century, and China would continue to firmly support the UN and its Secretary-General's efforts.

Expressing his appreciation for China's support for the UN, Annan said the UN's role and that of its Security Council should be strengthened in solving the Iraqi issue, in order to enable it to convince Iraq to follow relevant UN Security Council resolutions, accept inspections and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, promote a proper settlement and avoid any military conflicts occurring in the region.

Jiang said the world was undergoing great changes, experiencing profound and complex shifts in the international situation and the evolutionary twists and turns of multi-polarization and economic globalization.

With more unstable factors in international relations, peace and development was still the theme of the times and in the interests and aspirations of all peoples, he pointed out.

Jiang said the international situation now and in the near future was characterized by general peace and stability, but with regional wars, tensions and turbulence.

The economic revival of developing countries was an historical trend that could not be stopped, and represented an important feature of the new global pattern in the 21st century, Jiang noted.

He stressed that the sound development of the world economy could not be based on a rich minority and poor majority for long, and it was difficult to achieve lasting peace and stability in an unevenly developed world.

The international community should pay due attention to development from a strategic perspective, added Jiang.

At Jiang's invitation to speak, Annan said their meeting was taking place "at a time when a lot is happening in the world ?a not just on the political front, but also on the economic front and on the health front."

Annan called for international cooperation to "defeat the scourge of terrorism". "We all believe there is a need for international cooperation particularly when it comes to fighting terrorism and what happened in Indonesia really underscores a need for us to work together to defeat the scourge of terrorism," he said, referring to a bomb attack on the island resort of Bali Saturday that killed 181 people.

The deadly bombing in Indonesia was a "brutal and inhuman act" that reinforces the need for the entire world and the United Nations to fight terrorism together, Annan said later while on a visit to China's Foreign Ministry.

"It is important that all of us, all countries, come together to share information to decide not to support terrorism, not to give them financial support, not to give them safety, not to give them comfort," Annan said.

"And if we do that, we will deny them the opportunities," he said in response to a reporter's question after being greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan.

Annan said such acts underscore the importance of the Security Council's work to fight international terrorism. "It's tragic. It is a brutal and inhuman act," Annan said, adding that he sent his condolences to the victims' families.

*** Annan praises China's progress

China has achieved a rate of economic growth that is the envy of almost all other countries, says Annan Monday in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zheiang Province, after being awarded an honorary doctoral degree by Zhejiang University.

"China is one of the few countries that at present are successfully defying the gloomy outlook in the global economy," hesaid.

"China has made progress in reducing poverty -- progress on a scale that is unprecedented in human history."

He said through trade and investment, China was building bridges across the globe. With its membership in the World Trade Organization, China had become even more fully engaged in the international community -- opening up new opportunities for economic cooperation.

He said he was delighted many Chinese companies had entered a partnership with the United Nations through the Global Compact initiative -- a forum promoting the practical application of universal principles on human rights, labor and the environment.

China was playing a pioneering role in technical cooperation with other developing countries, whether through projects abroad or through the generous provision of training in China, he said.

He cited an example in Hangzhou, where China was using the regional center for hydro-power to share its valuable expertise in renewable energy with people from other developing countries.

He said young people were the key in the fight against AIDS and China's young people were leading the campaign.

(China Daily October 15, 2002)