CHINA AND THE UN AT 50

China was one of the architects of the UN. The country was the first signa-tory of the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945. Yet it was only in October 1971, with the Chinese delegation led by then Vice Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua, that the People's Republic of China's representa-tion in the UN was resumed. Since that time, the UN has had the great privilege of witnessing and support-ing China in achieving one of the greatest periods of socioeconomic progress in world history.