China assumes rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for April

UNITED NATIONS - China on Friday assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for April.

China's Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi in the day took over the rotating council presidency from his Angolan counterpart Ismael Abraao Gaspar Martins, who held the council presidency for March.

At 5 pm EDT, local time, Friday, Liu is expected to hold a briefing on the Council's planned work for this month at the UN headquarters in New York.

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the world at large.

China is one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation Council, together with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Federation. The Council has another 10 non-permanent members that are elected in groups of five by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms.

The presidency of the Council rotates among its 15 member states based on the English-language alphabetical order of the countries' names on a monthly basis.

Following is a chronology of China's presidency at the Security Council in recent five years.

-- February 2015

Under China's presidency, the Security Council held 35 meetings to discuss more than 20 agenda topics, including Syria, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan and Ukraine, with seven resolutions adopted and two presidential statements as well as 15 press statements issued.

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 a fine adjustment on working methods to encourage members to be more focused on analyzing the situations, pinpointing the problems and 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.

-- November 2013

The Middle East and African issues featured high on the agenda of the Security Council.

On Nov 13, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution, setting up a framework that would continue enabling cooperation between members of the international community in combating piracy and armed robbery along the coast of Somalia.

-- June 2012

The Security Council reviewed major international hotspot issues including Syria, Sudan, South Sudan and the Middle East.

On June 29, the Security Council adopted a resolution to request UN 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.

-- January 2010

On Jan 13, the Security Council held, at the China initiative, an open thematic debate on cooperation between the United Nations and regional and sub-regional organizations on international peace and security.