UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- China voiced its willingness to further strengthen cooperation with the United Nations on Friday and support the world body to play a bigger role in addressing the global issues.

    Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei made the statement while meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon (R) shakes hands with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei during their meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, the U.S., May 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Shen Hong) Photo Gallery>>>

    He also spoke highly of the efforts by the secretary-general to promote all the works of the United Nations.

    China backs the efforts to promote the reform of the UN Security Council in order to further improve the UN's ability to deal with all kinds of global threats and challenges in order to enable the United Nations to carry out its obligations under the UN Charter more effectively, He said.

    Comprehensive and patient consultations should be made on the reform of the United Nations, and an extensive consensus on the issue should be reached on the basis of taking the interests and concerns of all parties concerned into consideration, he said.

    Against a backdrop of the international financial crisis, the United Nations should increase its attention to and investment into the field of development and try its best to mitigate the negative impact of such a crisis on the development countries, He said.

    Meanwhile, Ban said that he appreciates China's important role in maintaining the peace and promoting common development in the world.

    The world today is facing all kinds of complicated and grave challenges, such as the financial crisis and the climate change, these challenges should be jointly tackled by all countries, Ban said.

    The United Nations hopes to see China's bigger role in the world in the future, the secretary-general said.