China supports regional organizations in their efforts to resolve conflicts peacefully, China's permanent representative to the United Nations said Tuesday at a UN Security Council meeting.

Liu Jieyi said that peace and development are "the themes of our times, but the world is not peaceful yet. Regional turbulence, terrorism, major epidemics, natural disasters and other non-traditional security issues have been occurring now and then".

"The UN is at the core of the international collective security mechanism," Liu said. "The Security Council takes the main responsibility for maintaining international peace and security."

Liu said China appreciates the work of organizations such as the African Union (AU) in their efforts to resolve hot-spot issues peacefully.

As the largest regional organization, the AU is playing an increasingly important role in African regional peace and security issues, Liu said.

Liu said China proposed the Initiative on China-Africa Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Security during the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing in July 2012.

The purpose is to deepen cooperation with the AU and African countries in peace and security in Africa; provide financial support for AU peace-keeping missions in Africa and help develop the African Standby Force; and train more officials in peace and security affairs. In the past three years, China has provided support to the African Union Mission to Somalia.

The forum will have its sixth meeting later this year, with peace and security as key themes, Liu said.

"China is ready to seize the opportunity (at the sixth meeting), together with Africa, to step up implementation of the initiative on partnerships for peace and security between China and Africa, to facilitate the settlement of hot-spot political issues, and jointly promote peace, stability and development on the continent," Liu said.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for strengthened partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations to better respond to evolving global threats.

"The United Nations increasingly shares responsibility for peace and security with regional organizations," Ban said. "We should do everything possible to help them resolve regional problems."

Xinhua contributed to this story.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn