Mr. President,

Security Council reform is an important part of the reform of the United Nations. China supports reasonable and necessary reform of the Security Council to increase its authority and efficiency, and enable it to better fulfill the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security entrusted by the Charter of the United Nations.

Security Council reform should give priority to increasing the representation of developing countries, those in Africa in particular. The reform should offer more opportunities to more countries, particularly small and medium-sized countries, to serve in the Security Council on a rotating basis to participate in its decision-making process.

The five clusters of core issues involving Security Council reform are interrelated. The reform should seek a package solution on these core issues. Artificial isolation of the intrinsically linked five clusters of issues, or adoption of the"step-by-step" or"piecemeal" approach would not work.

Security Council reform involves the immediate interests of all Member States. The reform requires the in-depth participation by all Member States and accommodation of the interests and concerns of all parties to reach the widest possible consensus through extensive and democratic consultations. As Member States remain seriously divided over the core issues involving Security Council reform, they need to remain engaged in dialogue, negotiations and consultations. China is against setting an artificial time limit for the reform or pushing through any solution over which Member States still have serious disputes. Gamesmanship or playing on words will lead us nowhere.

Mr. President,

Since the launch of the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform, Member States have had profound discussions on the core issues involving Security Council reform. This has deepened the mutual understanding of each other's positions. The intergovernmental negotiations have emerged as a main channel for pursuing Security Council reform. The recent development has shown that any acts that may undermine the intergovernmental negotiations are detrimental to the process of Security Council reform and do not serve the common interests of Member States. Meanwhile, China opposes any attempt to create separate tracks beyond the framework of the intergovernmental negotiations．

China supports the current session of the General Assembly in continuing the intergovernmental negotiations pursuant to GA Decision 62/557. The intergovernmental negotiations should follow the principles of openness, inclusiveness, transparency and being driven by Member States, so as to seek a solution that advances the unity among Member States, and serves the overall interests of Member States and long-tern interests of the United Nations. China stands ready to support the work of H.E. Mr. Al-Nasser, President of the General Assembly, and Ambassador Tanin, facilitator of the intergovernmental negotiations.

Thank you, Mr. President.