Madam President,

I would like to thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General Ján Kubiš for his briefing and the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan, Mr. Tanin, for his statement.

This year represents a crucial year of transition for Afghanistan, during which it will undergo a three-pronged transition — on political, security and economic fronts — to comprehensively build on Afghanistan’s stability, prosperity and harmonious coexistence among various communities. Those transitions will require unremitting efforts on the part of the Afghan Government and its people, which would not be possible without the persistent support and assistance from the international community.

The presidential and provincial council elections slated for 5 April represent an important milestone in Afghanistan’s political transition. China welcomes the smooth progress in the preparations for the upcoming major elections and wishes for their success in leading to smooth transitions that are in keeping with the common interest of Afghanistan and the international community.

The security situation in Afghanistan remains fragile, as represented by the major increases in various types of security incidents since last year. We express our concerns over rising civilian casualties, and we support capacity-building for Afghanistan’s national security and police forces to enable them to effectively fulfill safety and security responsibilities. The parties concerned should fully take into account the need to protect the security and stability of Afghanistan and steadily and responsibly reduce their armed forces in order to ensure smooth progress in Afghanistan’s security transition.

China supports the efforts of the Afghan Government and of the High Peace Council to promote an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process. We hope that the international community will help Afghanistan to advance the reconciliation process on its own terms, and we welcome the neighbours of that country playing an active role.

China highly appreciates the efforts of the Afghan Government to develop its economy and to promote employment. We expect the international community to effectively fulfill its assistance commitments by giving top priority to helping Afghanistan to implement its national development strategy, thereby enabling Afghanistan to achieve economic and social development and to gradually eliminate conditions that favour terrorism, drug production, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.

Afghanistan’s peace, reconstruction and long-term security are closely linked to regional peace and stability. China supports Afghanistan’s efforts to participate more actively in regional cooperation and to enhance mutual trust and good-neighbourly relations with countries in the region on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits. We encourage Afghanistan to make better use of the various regional mechanisms, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in a common effort to address the many regional security threats and challenges.

We support the United Nations in continuing to play an important role in coordinating international assistance to build peace in Afghanistan. We welcome resolution 2145 (2014), adopted earlier this morning, which renews UNAMA’s mandate. China supports providing adequate funding for the Mission to implement its mandate. We hope that UNAMA will strengthen its cooperation with the Afghan Government, fulfill its responsibilities under the Council’s mandate, effectively coordinate international assistance and strengthen the international community’s confidence in Afghanistan’s smooth transition and transformation. China supports the efforts of the international community and of the Afghan Government to explore ways to make better use of UNAMA’s post-2014 role, in line with the evolving situation in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is an important neighbour of China. We look forward to a friendly, unified, stable and developed Afghanistan. We always respect that country’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and the path of development chosen by its people, in line with its circumstances. China has long participated actively in rebuilding peace in Afghanistan by providing assistance to the best of its ability. In August, for the first time China will host the Foreign Ministers Conference on the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan. Through that meeting, China hopes to garner consensus in our common effort to support the long-term transition of Afghanistan and to promote regional peace and stability.

China stands ready to work with the international community in playing a constructive role in helping Afghanistan to achieve early political reconciliation and economic revitalization and to embark upon a path towards lasting peace and sustainable development.

Thank you, Madam President.