China has assumed on Friday, April 1, the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for April, with Permanent Representative to the U.N. Liu Jieyi taking the reins from his Angolan counterpart Ismael Abraao Gaspar Martins, who held the council presidency for March.
The Xinhua News Agency reported that the Council's planned work for this month will be discussed in a briefing to be presided over by Liu at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
The Security Council is primarily responsible for maintaining peace and security in the world at large, under the U.N. Charter.
The Council has 15 member nations and China is one of the five permanent members, alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Federation. The U.N. General Assembly elects the Council's 10 non-permanent members in groups of five with two-year terms.
The 15 members take turns in assuming the presidency of the council on a monthly basis based on the English-language alphabetical order of the countries' names.
In the recent five years, China has headed the presidency of the Security Council and made some accomplishments.
In Feb. 2015, during China's presidency of the Security Council, 35 meetings were held which discussed more than 20 agenda topics, including Syria, Libya, South Sudan, Yemen and Ukraine. The council also adopted seven resolutions and issued two presidential statements as well as 15 press statements.
The council also held the 70th anniversary-themed debate, "Maintaining international peace and security: Reflect on history, reaffirm the strong commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
China also introduced to the council some adjustment on working methods to encourage members to be more focused on identifying problems and analyzing situations, as well as finding solutions to these key problems. The move aimed to use the council time more efficiently and throw in the weight of the council behind solutions.
In Nov. 2013, with the Middle East and African issues on top of the Security Council agenda, the council, led by China, unanimously adopted a resolution and set up a framework that would enjoin the cooperation of members of the international community to combat piracy and armed robbery along the coast of Somalia.
In June 2012, with China at the helm again, major international hotspot issues, including Syria, Sudan, South Sudan and the Middle East, were reviewed by the Security Council, after which a resolution was adopted on June 29, requesting the U.N. Secretary-General to expand the 1540 committee which was set up in 2004 and was mandated to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery.
In Jan. 2010, through the initiative of China, the Security Council held an open debate on cooperation on international peace and security between the United Nations and regional and sub-regional organizations.