Mr. President,

I thank Special Representative Mr. Fall for his briefing.

We welcome the recent positive progress of political situations in Central Africa. We are happy to see that Burundi successfully held its presidential election, Cameroon is delivering the outcomes of the national dialogue with actions, the government of Central African Republic continues to carry forward the peace and reconciliation process, and bilateral relations between regional countries continue to improve. Meanwhile, countries in the region still face severe security challenges. The international community should continue to give more attention and support to Central African countries. In this regard, I would like to emphasize the following points:

First, respecting African ownership should be the premise of supporting countries in the region. The international community should fully listen to the opinions of the countries concerned, and respect their sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. As some countries in the region have elections on the agenda this year or next year, the international community need to create a favorable external environment, and encourage the resolution of differences through peaceful dialogue and consultation. Help should be provided only at the request of countries concerned. Solutions should not be imposed from the outside. It is essential to help countries in the region strengthen capacity building, so that they will better solve their own issues with their own efforts, and in their own way. Regional and sub-regional organizations have unique advantages on regional issues. We support the AU, ECCAS and other regional and sub-regional organizations in playing a bigger role in this regard.

Second, maintaining regional security and stability should be a priority of supporting countries in the region. Serious challenges, posed by the Boko Haram, the Lord’s Resistance Army, and the piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, seriously impact the security and stability. The international community need to continue to support regional efforts in combating terrorism and organized crime, for achieving peace and stability in the region at an early date. We call on all partners to conflict in the region to positively respond to the appeal of global ceasefire by the Secretary General. Under the leadership of SRSG Fall, UNOCA has played an important role through active good offices, mediation and preventive diplomacy, as well as promoting political dialogue among countries in the region. We will continue to support the important work of Special Representative and UNOCA.

Third, promoting economic and social development should be the key focus of supporting countries in the region. Underdevelopment and imbalanced development is the root cause for many issues in Central Africa region. Countries in the region should put more focus on development, and fully understand the influence that development can bring on peace. More investment should be made to provide basic services, including infrastructure, health care, education and employment, to improve the livelihood of the people. We encourage more support from the international community to countries and organizations in the region. UNOCA needs to integrate the development perspective into its conflict prevention efforts, and play a more active role in this regard.

The COVID-19 pandemic has added another layer of complexity for the situation in the region. China maintains that it should be the top priority of the international community to help African countries in this battle against the pandemic. The international community should provide more material, technical and personnel support to African countries. China has delivered a large amount of medical aid to more than 50 African countries, and sent 148 medical experts to 11 African countries. We will establish a cooperation mechanism for our hospitals to pair up 30 African hospitals, and accelerate the construction of the headquarters of the African Center for Disease Control, to help African countries improve their capabilities of disease prevention and control. We have announced to suspend debt repayments from 77 developing countries and regions, including many African countries. China is ready to work closely with the international community to provide more support and help African countries in defeating the pandemic, and bringing peace and prosperity to the region.

I thank you, Mr. President.