In what is perceived as the single largest grain donation to foreign countries ever delivered by the Chinese government since the founding of New China in 1949, China revealed on Sunday that it has delivered food donations worth 443.2 million yuan ($69.58 million) to the Horn of Africa, which is suffering from severe drought and famine.

In another development, it was confirmed last week that the Navy of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will lead the co-ordination of international anti-piracy patrols off Somalia starting next year.

The two unrelated events are part of China's long-standing commitment to international humanitarian efforts and its increasing contribution to world peace and security.

To a large extent, China's growing role on the world stage is inseparable from its status as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

Forty years ago today China regained its legitimate membership in the UN. Since then, cooperation between China and the world body has steadily expanded.

China has been granted assistance from the world body in the course of its development. And, as it has developed, it has started to extend helping hands to those in need through the UN. The transformation of its role from a recipient country to a donor country of international aid has won worldwide acclaim.

In recent years, along with China's economic development, the country has increased its support to development aid and humanitarian support through various UN programs. Statistics indicate that by 2009 the accumulated volume of China's foreign aid had reached 256.29 billion yuan ($40.19 billion). The recipients of China's foreign aid include 161 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Eastern Europe and more than 30 international and regional organizations including the various UN agencies.

As part of international efforts to eradicate poverty, China donated $30 million to the UN Food Program from 2006-2008, and in an agreement signed with the UN agency in 2009, it proposed to establish a trust fund of $30 million in three years to back up its undertakings in food security, Millennium Development Goals and South-South cooperation.

Meanwhile, the PLA has taken an active part in safeguarding world peace and stability by participating in UN peacekeeping operations and humanitarian aid missions in Africa. to date, China has sent more than 1,000 peacekeepers to Sudan, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Sahara.

The relationship between China and the UN has entered a stage of positive interaction: On the one hand, China dutifully observes its responsibilities and obligations in accordance with the UN Charter, and is in the vanguard of nations' trying to realize the world body's objectives. On the other hand, China's stances and principles have been widely acknowledged in the UN and other international organizations and it is at the forefront of reform and development of the UN, to ensure stronger representation of developing countries.

We have every reason to believe that with the relationship between China and UN deepening, China will make further contributions to world peace and progress.

(China Daily 10/25/2011 page9)