China's ambassador to the United Nations stressed on Monday that nations should uphold true multilateralism in the global challenge of nonproliferation.

"To address the issue, multilateral cooperation and the leadership of the UN are essential. All parties should uphold a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept; attach importance to each other's legitimate security concerns, eliminate drivers for proliferation and stay committed to universal and common security," said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN.

Zhang made these remarks during open consultations on the comprehensive review of the status of the implementation of Resolution 1540. The resolution, adopted in 2004, is the first Security Council resolution on nonproliferation and a major pillar of international nonproliferation efforts, he said.