UNITED NATIONS - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Monday held separate meetings with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Vuk Jeremic, president of the current UN General Assembly, pledging closer cooperation with the world body.

During the meetings, Yang said that under the current world situation, the international community attaches greater importance to the role of the United Nations.

China will continue its support for a greater role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace, promoting common development and sustainable development, and striving toward the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight anti-poverty goals to be realized by 2015, Yang said.

China will continue its active participation in UN work in all fields and lift China-UN cooperation to a higher level, he said.

Ban and Jeremic both thanked China's support for UN work, saying China is playing an increasingly important role in international affairs.

The United Nations is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in promoting the MDGs, in properly settling international and regional issues and in promoting peace and development in general, they said.

Yang is at the UN headquarters to attend the General Debate of the 67th General Assembly, which opens Tuesday morning.