Development should be paramount in the reforms of the United Nations, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday in Beijing.

Liu Jieyi, director general of the ministry's Department of International Organizations and Conferences, made the remark at the International Symposium on the United Nations that opened here Wednesday morning.

Liu said the UN is discussing the most comprehensive reforms ever in its 60-year history. China supports UN reforms and believes that development should be put first, Liu said.

"Development is the bedrock of security and human rights and should be the central theme of the UN reforms and the September Summit," he said.

In order to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of poverty reduction, Liu called for urgent attention to five areas.

First, he said developing countries should immediately formulate comprehensive national strategies for the implementation of the MDGs. The international community should help the developing countries to do this by providing technical assistance and support for capacity building.

Secondly, Liu said international assistance should take into account the recipient countries' specific conditions. It is crucial to set up a timetable and monitoring system for the developed countries to raise the level of official development assistance (ODA) to 0.7 percent of their GDP, he said. To achieve this target, innovative financing arrangements should be examined.

Thirdly, Liu called for the establishment and improvement of an open and equitable multilateral trading mechanism, saying that agricultural subsidies should be removed as soon as possible and tariff and non-tariff trade barriers should be reduced substantially.

In the fourth point he made, Liu said developed countries should take further steps in debt reduction and relief so as to channel more funds into development.

Last, he said partnerships between public and private sectors should be strengthened to mobilize resources for economic growth and poverty alleviation.

The International Symposium of the United Nations is jointly sponsored by the United Nations Association of China and the United Nations Association of Sweden, both non-governmental organizations. The two-day forum focuses on three topics, namely the role of the UN, UN reform and civil society participation.

More than 80 representatives from more than 10 countries and international organizations are attending the meeting, including the UNESCO Office in Beijing, the EU Delegation to China, the International Labor Organization Office in China and the World Federation of the United Nations Associations.

Source: Xinhua