On March 9, Ambassador Li Baodong, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for March, met separately with permanent representatives of Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan to the UN, as well as observers of the Palestinians and the Arab League to the UN. He exchanged views with them on issues related to the Middle East peace process.

After the meetings Ambassador Li told the press that, based on the consensus reached by the Security Council members, he met with the Palestinians, Israel and other parties concerned and had discussions with them on how to push forward the Middle East peace process. He said that Council members are concerned over the current stalemate in the peace process, and hope that the obstacles will be removed as soon as possible so as to restore the direct talks between the Palestinians and Israel, achieve the goal of two States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace, and realize a comprehensive, fair and lasting peace in the Middle East at an early date.

(Photo by Bai Jie, Xinhua News Agency)