Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on  Wednesday, discussing UN's role on fighting the international financial crisis.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (L) meets with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN headquarters in New York on June 24, 2009. [Xinhua]

Yang, who led a Chinese delegation here to attend the UN high-level meeting on economic and financial crisis, said that it remains the top priority of the international community to actively address the financial crisis and boost the early recovery of global economic growth.

The international community should not ignore the issue of development or reduce related investment due to fighting the crisis, Yang said.

"The United Nations should play a bigger role in fighting the crisis," Yang told Ban, adding that the current high-level meeting should "send positive signals" to promote the close cooperation among countries and upgrade developing countries' strength in international financial institutions.

Ban said China has made great contribution to the international fight against global financial crisis, highlighting China's active participation in the international cooperation within the Group of 20 (G20).

He said he hopes China could further play a constructive role on global challenges like the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), climate change as well as on regional hotspot issues, adding it is important for safeguarding international peace and promoting common development.

The two sides also exchanges views on major international and regional issues.

The high-level meeting, kicked off Wednesday morning in the UN headquarters, is the first time for the UN to hold a high-level meeting on the economic and financial crisis in its history. Some 120 countries out of 192 UN members attended the three-day meeting.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2009)