Mr. President, 

China voted in favor of the draft resolution extending the mandate of UNAMA. This is based on our support for the work of the United Nations and Special Representative Roza Otunbayeva. China hopes that UNAMA, under the leadership of Madam Special Representative, will continue to play an active role in promoting Afghanistan’s stability, development, and integration into regional cooperation, and in helping the Afghan people build a better life.

At the same time, we regret that the draft resolution fails to reflect the latest developments in Afghanistan by keeping pace with the times. Two and a half years after the withdrawal of foreign troops, Afghanistan is seeing an overall stable domestic situation, improvement in its economy and people's livelihoods, and sustained expansion of regional cooperation, while at the same time, it still faces severe challenges in such areas as the humanitarian situation, economic development, and the terrorist risks. The international community should strengthen its engagement with the Afghan interim government, ensuring humanitarian assistance on the one hand, and providing more help in mine clearance, alternative cultivation, restoration of the banking system, unfreezing of overall assets, and safeguarding the rights and interests of the entire population on the other. The draft resolution submitted by the penholder gives the impression that the situation has remained unchanged for over two years, which is clearly a disconnect with reality.

Since its establishment in 2002, UNAMA has, in line with the changing situation, made several adjustments to the Secretary-General's reporting cycle to the Security Council. In light of the overall stabilization of the security situation in the country, China proposed during consultation that the reporting cycle be extended as appropriate. Doing that would not prevent the Council from considering the issue of Afghanistan whenever necessary, nor would it in any way imply any weakening of support for the Afghan people. Our overall consideration is that we hope actions taken by the Security Council with regard to Afghanistan will be in line with the development of the situation and the needs of the Afghan people. China stands ready to continue to maintain communication with all parties on relevant issues. 

Thank you, Mr. President.