¡¡¡¡BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- China has always held the Iraqi issue should be solved peacefully by political means, and it supports the United Nations' role in this respect, says Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

¡¡¡¡He was speaking in Beijing on Monday afternoon at a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who arrived here earlier in the day for a working visit.

¡¡¡¡Praising the UN's important role in international affairs, Jiang said it had contributed in the past five decades to safeguarding world peace and promoting cooperation and development.

¡¡¡¡Jiang said he hoped the UN would keep playing a crucial role ininternational affairs in the new century, and China would continueto firmly support the UN and its Secretary-General's efforts.

¡¡¡¡Expressing his appreciation for China's support for the UN, Annan said the UN's role and that of its Security Council should be strengthened in solving the Iraqi issue, in order to enable it to convince Iraq to follow relevant UN Security Council resolutions, accept inspections and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, promote a proper settlement and avoid any military conflicts occurring in the region.

¡¡¡¡Jiang said the world was undergoing great changes, experiencingprofound and complex shifts in the international situation and theevolutionary twists and turns of multi-polarization and economic globalization.

¡¡¡¡With more unstable factors in international relations, peace and development was still the theme of the times and in the interests and aspirations of all peoples, he pointed out.

¡¡¡¡Jiang said the international situation now and in the near future was characterized by general peace and stability, but with regional wars, tensions and turbulence.

¡¡¡¡The economic revival of developing countries was an historical trend that could not be stopped, and represented an important feature of the new global pattern in the 21st century, Jiang noted.

¡¡¡¡He stressed that the sound development of the world economy could not be based on a rich minority and poor majority for long, and it was difficult to achieve lasting peace and stability in an unevenly developed world.

¡¡¡¡The international community should pay due attention to development from a strategic perspective, added Jiang.

¡¡¡¡Annan began his China visit on Sunday in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. Zhejiang University conferred an honorary doctoral degree on Annan on Monday morning.

¡¡¡¡Annan is in China at the invitation of the Chinese government. Enditem