President，

I thank Special Representative Bintou Keita for her briefing. I welcome the presence of the permanent representatives of the DRC and Rwanda. 

Last month, the new government of the DRC was inaugurated smoothly, unveiling a new chapter in the country’s governance. China welcomes this. We look forward to all parties in the country uniting as one and accelerating nation-building with the government’s National Action Plan as the blueprint to achieve peace and stability. In light of the Secretary-General’s report, I wish to stress the following three points. 

First, to push for the cessation of fighting to end the violence among armed groups. In the past three months alone, over 500 civilians were killed by armed groups, 7.3 million forcibly displaced. On July 3, a Chinese company located in the DRC was attacked, causing several deaths and disappearances of Chinese citizens. China strongly condemns such an act, and we urge that the perpetrators be immediately arrested and held accountable by law. China urges all armed groups located in the DRC to lay down weapons and withdraw from occupied areas immediately. In April, the DRC Government concluded ceasefire agreements with multiple armed groups and engaged in bilateral security cooperation with Uganda and Burundi. A pilot DDR project in North Kivu was also completed. Such progress deserves full recognition. The international community must respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the DRC, and assist constructively in its efforts to maintain security and stability and improve the humanitarian situation, so as to promote an early settlement of the eastern DRC issue. 

Second, to facilitate an immediate regional deescalation. There has been growing divergence and discord among regional countries on the issue of the eastern DRC. In his report, the Secretary-General expressed his concern over the risk of regionalization of the conflict in the eastern DRC. China calls on the countries concerned to remain calm and exercise restraint and settle differences through dialogue rather than military means. We commend Angola for facilitating the meeting of foreign ministers of the DRC and Rwanda last March. We encourage regional countries and organizations to play a bigger part in advancing the Luanda and Nairobi processes. We hope SRSG Keita can maintain coordination with Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Xia Huang to continue to work for peace talks. 

Third, to move forward MONUSCO’s drawdown process in an orderly way. The Mission has successfully withdrawn from South Kivu last month. Going forward, the UN system should assist peacebuilding and consolidation efforts in South Kivu. MONUSCO needs to stay engaged with the DRC Government to ensure a safe and orderly drawdown process. A string of recent attacks against MONUSCO calls for a greater sense of urgency and more effective measures by the relevant actors to ensure the safety of peacekeepers. SADC is engaged in peacekeeping activities in the eastern DRC. We support reasonable adjustment of MONUSCO’s mandate to ensure its coordination and complementarity with regional forces. We are ready to participate constructively in the Council’s deliberations on supporting regional forces. 

I thank you, President.