Premier Li Keqiang meets with Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, president of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing on Monday. （WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY）
China will continue to uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, and adhere to a global order based on international law and multilateralism, Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday.
Li's remarks came as he held talks in Beijing with Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, president of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, in their second meeting within recent months.
Li had met with the Ecuadorean diplomat in China in August when she was president-elect.
China, as a founding member of the UN, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the world's largest developing country, will fulfill its international responsibilities and obligations, Li said.
China is ready to work with other countries to jointly contribute to the lasting peace, development and prosperity of humanity and move forward with the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.
The international situation is fluid and complex and global challenges keep cropping up. Global issues should be decided through consultation by all countries, said the premier.
He appealed to different countries to jointly safeguard the status and the role of the UN, follow the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and safeguard truth, equality and justice in the world.
Espinosa Garces, who began her one-year tenure in September, said she has maintained good communication with China since taking office.
She said she agreed with the premier on the need to strengthen the multilateral system and to strengthen the international rules-based order.
"We live in very challenging times for multilateralism, but also for peace and development, which are the principles and pillars under which the United Nations was formed," she said. "We fully coincide on the need to have a multilateral system that delivers for the people we represent."
Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Nigeria's current UN permanent representative, will succeed Espinosa Garces as president of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.
