Mr. President,

I wish to thank Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo and Ambassador Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India and Chair of the Libya sanctions committee, for their briefings. I welcome Ambassador El-Sonni, Permanent Representative of Libya, to this meeting. 

The 11-year long conflict in Libya has brought disastrous consequences to the Libyan people, with far reaching spillover effect on Africa, the Sahel region in particular, and the Mediterranean. It is the shared hope of the Libyan people and the international community for the Libyan peace process to stay on the right course, make continued progress, and achieve lasting peace as soon as possible. Nevertheless, according to USG DiCarlo’s briefing. For some time now, the differences and tensions between the parties in Libya have intensified. The good momentum as of last year has been on the decline. The uncertainty of the political process has increased. All these are extremely regrettable and worrying. China wishes to make the following observations. 

First, uphold the red line of peace. The current ceasefire in Libya has been hard won. A relapse into conflict will unravel all the gains of peace over the past two years. 

China has noted that all parties in Libya have generally stayed calm and exercised restraint at this critical moment. We hope that they will continue to seek political settlement and avoid taking any action that may complicate the situation. All parties with influence to bear on the situation in Libya should adhere to the Libyan-led and Libyan-owned principle, and play an active and constructive role in this regard. UNSMIL should, within its Security Council mandate, continue to work with the 5+5 joint military commission in conducting ceasefire monitoring. Foreign fighters and mercenaries in Libya should withdraw without delay in a phased, balanced, orderly and organized manner. 

Second, persist in dialogue and consultation. The difficulties in Libya's political process are essentially due to the lack of consensus among parties. We hope that all parties in Libya will restore the momentum of dialogue that prevailed some time ago, reach an early agreement on issues vital to the future of Libya, especially on a timeline and a roadmap of the political transition, tackle the direct cause of election postponement, and hold elections as soon as possible while maintaining peace and stability in the country, so as to usher in a new chapter for Libya's national development. China encourages UNSMIL to continue to actively facilitate peace talks. We support in principle the renewal of UNSMIL’s mandate, and call for an nomination of the SG Special Envoy for Libya without delay as required by the Council Resolution. 

Third, promote peace through development. Growing the economy and improving people's livelihood can help the Libyan people enjoy the peace dividend and bolster the force for peace. Libya’s oil production returning to pre-war levels has not been easy to come by. As the main source of Libya's national revenue, the stable production and export of oil should be guaranteed. The humanitarian situation in Libya has improved somewhat. China encourages the international community to actively engage in Libya’s reconstruction, and scale up the support for Libya's economic recovery and development. The Libyan Government has long been concerned about the losses suffered by the frozen assets. The Security Council and the Libya sanctions committee should take this matter very seriously and adopt practical measures. 

Thank you, Mr. President.