By Jin Chenyi

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the founding of the United Nations. Today, the UN stands at a historical point where accelerated transformation unseen in a century is unfolding across the world. The international order faces severe challenges and multilateralism is increasingly questioned for its effectiveness. In addressing the pressing question of "what kind of UN the world needs," the international community urgently needs to forge consensus and recalibrate its direction.

First, the contributions of the UN is undeniable and its role is irreplaceable.

The number of its member states has grown from 51 at its founding to 193, making it the most universal, representative, and authoritative intergovernmental organization in the world. President Xi Jinping  noted that the founding of the UN was the most important decision made by the international community at the end of WWII. Over the past 80 years, the UN has served as a guardian of world peace. It has made significant contributions in areas such as preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping operations, coordination of international counter-terrorism efforts, and the construction of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, thereby helping to maintain an overall framework of global peace. The UN has also been a founder of international rule of law. Through its treaty system, judicial practices, and institutional innovations, it has greatly enriched the resources of international law, ensuring that interstate interactions are governed by legal norms and established rules.

Second, it is the right path to strengthen the UN's role and advance its reform.

The world today has entered a period of new turbulence and transformation. Facing unprecedented external challenges and internal shortcomings in execution and responsiveness, the UN is in the most difficult period since its founding. However, this is no excuse for inaction or sabotage by individual countries. The various upheavals in the world today are not because the UN has become obsolete, but the purposes and principles of the UN Charter are not effectively followed.

Advancing UN reform is a shared consensus and expectation of the international community. The reform should uphold the UN-centered international system as its fundamental direction and ultimate goal, promote balanced development across the three pillars of peace and security, development, and human rights, enhance the representation and voice of developing countries, and build a leaner, more efficient, rapidly responsive, fiscally responsible, and influential UN.

Third, major powers must set an example and shoulder responsibility to restore the UN's authority.

At a time when the world faces serious risks and challenges, major powers should prioritize the future and destiny of humanity, put the common interests of the international community first, abandon Cold War mentality and ideological biases, and work together to advance and improve UN reform. As a founding member of the UN and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has consistently fulfilled its responsibilities, upheld genuine multilateralism, and steadfastly supported the work of the United Nations. China is the second-largest contributor to UN regular budget and peacekeeping assessments as well as the largest troop contributor to UNPKOs among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, China has consistently promoted coordination and constructive interaction among major powers, calling on them to set examples by faithfully upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, taking the lead in providing global public products, and contributing proactively to world peace and development.

Compared with its founding, the political landscape of the UN today has undergone profound changes alongside the rise of the Global South. The era in which certain major powers could monopolize decision-making or perform solo acts has long gone. Practices such as double standards, arbitrary withdrawal from treaties, and imposing unilateral rules will never be accepted by the international community.

No matter how international circumstances evolve, the UN-centered international system will remain a vital guarantor of human progress. All parties should strengthen their confidence, take active measures, advance steadily toward building a global community of shared future, and achieve greater unity and progress under the banner of the UN.