On final leg of Asia visit, Secretary-General Ban meets with Chinese leader

On the final leg of his Asia tour, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon arrived in Beijing today, meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on a wide variety of topics of mutual interest.

“They discussed a wide range of topics, including climate change, the Millennium Development Goals, the Korean Peninsula and Africa.” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, said at his daily briefing.

Mr. Ban and President Hu also spoke about China’s involvement in global affairs, according to the spokesperson.

“The Secretary-General noted that China could play a greater role in peacekeeping and in the search for political solutions to African crises, including in Somalia and Sudan,” Mr. Nesirky said.

The Secretary-General arrived in Beijing after visits yesterday to Shanghai and Nanjing. In Shanghai, he delivered the closing speech at the Shanghai Expo, where he praised the city’s reputation as one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities and said that the Expo helped highlight China’s innovations in a number of important fields.

In Nanjing, the Secretary-General received an honorary doctorate from one of the world’s oldest centres of leaning and delivered a speech to students at the university.

China is the last leg of the Secretary-General's four-nation Asian tour, which also included visits to Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam.