The 68th session of the UN General Assembly, which officially started on Sept 17, has stepped into the international limelight this week after the higher-level "general debate" began on Tuesday.

As a parade of about 130 heads of state, heads of government and deputy prime ministers will address the conference on topics of national or international concern over eight days, there are expectations that the annual event might help build a greater international consensus on some serious issues the world is facing today.

The theme for the 68th session's general debate, The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage, shows the world body is giving top priority to discussing a sustainable new global agenda to succeed the Millennium Development Goals, which galvanized the world in 2000.

World leaders are also likely to discuss Syria, as more than 100,000 people are thought to have died in violence and millions have been displaced. After the United States and Russia brokered an agreement for Syria to give up its chemical weapons earlier this month, the countries are still at odds on what should be done next.

The relationship between the US and Iran was also a hot topic before the session began. So it is eye-catching that the US and Iran have seized the opportunity to send each other positive signals, which could help thaw decades of animosity between the two.

Issues like these are significant to the common development of mankind and global security. The UN, as the most important platform and mechanism for coordinating and pushing international cooperation, has an irreplaceable role in the world arena.

The return of the Syrian chemical weapons issue to the UN framework indicates unilateralism is increasingly unpopular, and the world body is being looked upon to lead international efforts to address many of the world's woes today.

China, for its part, is committed to promoting the democratization of international relations and multilateralism. It has been a staunch supporter of the UN Charter and the norms governing international relations, because there is no better venue to deal with issues of global interest.

With a more assertive UN channeling global efforts to build lasting peace and common prosperity, every country will benefit.

(China Daily 09/26/2013 page8)