I welcome the President of Somalia, His Excellency Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, to this meeting and thank him for his statement. I also thank Mr. Keating, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, and Ambassador António, the Permanent Observer of the African to the United Nations, for their briefings.

With elections scheduled for later this year, Somalia’s peace process is entering a crucial period. Recently, the Federal Government of Somalia has made active efforts to promote social reconciliation, combat terrorism, advance federal institution-building and comprehensively implement Vision 2016. China highly appreciates the able leadership of President Mohamud and is confident that, under his leadership, the Somali people will continue to achieve new progress on national reconstruction. At the same time, the security and humanitarian situation in the country remains fragile and the attainment of peace and development is still an arduous task. In that connection, I wish to emphasize the following four points.

First, all parties should continue to push forward the peace process in Somalia. China welcomes that President Mohamud and the leaders of all parties in Somalia held a National Leaders Forum recently and reached a consensus on the electoral process for the 2016 elections. We hope that all the parties will put the long-term interests of their nation and their people above all else, strengthen dialogue, settle their differences and work together for peace, stability and development in their country. The international community should adhere to the principle of Somali ownership and Somali leadership, effectively help the Federal Government advance the peace process, reinforce federation-building, comprehensively improve its administrative capacity, expedite local institution-building, promote social reconciliation and bring about lasting peace and the sustainable development of Somalia.

Secondly, emphasis should be placed on consolidating the security environment in Somalia. The terrorist group Al-Shabaab still poses a grave threat to security in the country. Recently, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Army have worked together to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation and have achieved remarkable results. China strongly condemns the terrorist attacks against AMISOM and appreciates the important contributions made by the African Union and countries in the region to the maintenance of security and stability in Somalia. We welcome the summit of the AMISOM troop- and police-contributing countries in February, and expect the United Nations Support Office in Somalia and other parties concerned to work together and continue to provide sustained and stable logistical support to AMISOM and the Somali National Army, thereby creating external conditions favorable to the advancement of the Somali political process.

Thirdly, efforts are needed to comprehensively promote the development of the Somali economy. Development is the only way to eliminate the root causes of conflicts and achieve lasting stability in Somalia. Somalia is endowed with rich natural resources and has enormous potential for development. The international community should increase its assistance to Somalia aimed at building infrastructure and developing its agriculture, boosting job creation and improving development so that the Somali people can enjoy the dividends of peace at an early date. China expects the World Bank and other international financial institutions and development agencies to honor their commitments of assistance as soon as possible and to provide effective support for Somalia’s economic development and the improvement of its people’s lives by focusing on strengthening the country’s ability to sustain itself, based on its development needs, in order to lay a solid foundation for its future development.

Fourthly, the international community should further improve its coordination with regard to the Somali question and create synergy. China supports a leading role played by the United Nations in coordinating the international efforts aimed at assisting Somalia. We also support the constructive help provided by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia in promoting the political process and starting national reconstruction in Somalia. China welcomes the meeting held in February by the High-Level Partnership Forum on Somalia, which further consolidated the consensus of the international community for Somalia’s development. It is hoped that, in providing assistance to Somalia, the international community will continue to increase its consultation and cooperation with the Federal Government of Somalia, fully respect its views and focus on the priority areas and overall direction of the country’s development with a view to forging synergy among assistance efforts.

China and Africa form a community of shared destiny and interests. At the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last December, China’s President Xi Jinping announced 10 major China-Africa cooperation plans: industrialization, agricultural modernization, infrastructure, financial resources, green development, trade and investment facilitation, poverty reduction and public welfare, public health, people-to-people exchanges, and peace and security. China is ready to join hands with African countries, including Somalia, in a concerted and active effort to follow up on the Summit’s outcomes and, in the light of Africa’s actual needs, help the continent to improve people’s livelihoods and enhance African countries’ own development capacities.

For many years, China has firmly supported the Somali peace process and provided Somalia and AMISOM with assistance to the best of its ability. China has also trained technician experts for the country’s reconstruction under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. We are ready to work with the international community in our ongoing and unremitting efforts for peace, stability, prosperity and development in Somalia and the Horn of Africa.