China hopes the Asian countries will reach consensus on a candidate for next UN Secretary-General through friendly consultations, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao Tuesday.

Liu told a regular news conference that the next UN Secretary-General should come from an Asian country since an Asian has not taken up the post for 34 years.

China hopes Asian countries enhance mutual understanding and cooperation to ensure an Asian chief of the UN.

The last Asian UN secretary-general was U Thant from Myanmar, who served from 1961 to 1971.

The incumbent UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will finish his second term this December. Under the UN Charter, a new secretary-general is nominated by 15 member states of the UN Security Council and confirmed by the 191-nation General Assembly.

Source: Xinhua