Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, please allow me to congratulate you on your election as the Chairman of the Sixth Committee of the current session of the General Assembly. My congratulations also go to other members of the bureau for their election.

Over the past year, the international counter-terrorism landscape has evolved at an accelerated pace. On the one hand, global counter-terrorism efforts and international cooperation in this regard have yielded positive results. On the other hand, frequent terrorist attacks continue unabated. The increasingly global threat of terrorism, a growing rank of domestic terrorists, rampant improvised attacks on diversified targets and the spread of terrorist ideologies in cyberspace are clear signs that international terrorism is at its peak. China is of the view that terrorism knows no borders, and that the international community should embrace the concept of mankind as a community of shared future and enhance global counter-terrorism governance. In this connection, the Chinese delegation would like to highlight the following points.

First, we must garner consensus and form synergy. The war on terror is a protracted one. The international community must seek greater consensus and create stronger synergy in this regard. All parties concerned should unequivocally oppose and combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and reject double standard and any attempt to link terrorism to any specific ethnicity or religion.

Second, we must adopt a comprehensive approach and address the root causes of terrorism. In response to the new trends and patterns in the evolution of this scourge, states need to adopt a comprehensive approach and continue to increase efforts to crack down on the recruitment and movement of terrorists, cut off their financing channels, and curb the abuse of social media and other ICT platforms by terrorist entities. At the same time, attention must be paid to what gave rise to terrorism in the first place. States should devote efforts to eradicate poverty, improve livelihoods, address development needs, promote education and cultural development, facilitate inter-civilization dialogue and exchanges, and develop international relations based on win-win cooperation, so as to eliminate the breeding ground for terrorism.

Third, the United Nations must play a leading role. China always maintains that in international counter-terrorism cooperation, the United Nations and its Security Council should play a leading role. It is essential to fully tap the potentials of existing UN counter-terrorism organs, improve their coordination and division of labour, consolidate counter-terrorism resources in the UN system, and forge a global united front against terrorism.

Fourth, counter-terrorism efforts must strictly comply with international law. In the fight against terrorism, we must uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the countries concerned, and abide by the rules of international law regarding the use of force and crime punishment. We urge the General Assembly to accelerate its efforts to conclude and adopt the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, in order to further improve the international legal framework in this regard.

Mr. Chairman,

China is a victim of terrorism. The fight against the so-called "East Turkestan" terrorists as represented by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is China's core concern and constitutes an important part of the international fight against terrorism. China hopes that the international community will continue to support our counter-terrorism efforts.

As an important member of the international camp against terrorism, the Chinese Government attaches great importance to and actively participates in international counter-terrorism cooperation. Over the past year, China has engaged in consultations and interactions with more than ten countries in the area of counter-terrorism and security, and exchanged views with our interlocutors on issues such as international and regional counter-terrorism situation and bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation. China has continued to actively participate in counter-terrorism exchanges and cooperation within such multilateral frameworks as the UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), APEC, ASEAN Regional Forum, Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) and the BRICS group. China played an active part in the establishment of the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group, attended its first meeting, and played host to its second meeting. The first China-Russia-India informal meeting on counter-terrorism was held in Beijing. China successfully hosted the second GCTF Symposium on Combating Cyber-Terrorism. During the Astana Summit of SCO last June, member states issued a statement on jointly fighting international terrorism and signed the SCO Convention on Countering Extremism, further demonstrating their determination to fight the "three evil forces", namely terrorism, separatism and extremism, and reinforcing the legal basis of SCO's law enforcement and security cooperation, thus further contributing to international counter-terrorism efforts.

Mr. Chairman,

China will continue to actively participate in and promote international counter-terrorism cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and cooperation. We will work together with the rest of the international community to eliminate terrorism and maintain world peace, security and stability.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.