The UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution late Friday night, leaving in place the main elements of the previous assessment scale for the following three years.

The current scale of assessments was adopted in 2000, when the Assembly based individual countries' assessments on their gross national income (GNI), with adjustments for external debt and low per capita income.

There were also minimum and maximum rates -- so-called "floor" and "ceiling" -- of assessment. One of the main features of the scale was a reduction of the ceiling from 25 to 22 per cent, which was then applied to the Organization's main contributor -- the United States.

Under the new formula, Japan's dues will drop from 19.4 percent of the total UN budget to 16.6 percent, while China's will edge up from 2.05 percent to 2.66 percent.

Germany, who ranks the third after the United States and Japan in dues, will pay 8.57 percent, Britain, 6.64 percent, and France, 6.30 percent.

Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, will also increase its payments from 1.1 percent to 1.2 percent.

Source: Xinhua