UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK - The United Nations (UN) Security Council will deal with various issues related to Syria, Yemen and the Middle East under China's rotating presidency in April, China's permanent representative to the UN said Friday, according to Xinhua news.

The council will look at three aspects of the Syrian issue, namely, the political process, chemical weapons and humanitarian access, Liu Jieyi said at a press conference as he took over the rotating presidency of the Security Council for April.

With regard to Yemen, Mr Liu said talks are ongoing between the relevant countries and the council's discussions will help move these talks forward and improve conditions for the implementation of the ceasefire that has been agreed upon.

April will also see three open debates on the Middle East, counter-terrorism and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, Liu said.

Sponsored by China, the open debate on counter-terrorism is aimed at enhancing international co-operation and co-ordination in the fight against the surging terrorist activities in Europe and Asia, Liu added.

Under the UN Charter, the 15-member Security Council has the primary responsibility to maintain global peace and security. China is one of its five permanent members. The council also has 10 non-permanent members that are elected in groups of five by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms.

The presidency of the UN Security Council rotates among its 15 member states on a monthly basis based on the English-language alphabetical order of the countries' names.

Liu took over the presidency from his Angolan counterpart Ismael Abraao Gaspar Martins.