Your Excellency Foreign Secretary David Miliband,
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon,
Colleagues,

I would like to express my thanks to the United Kingdom for taking the initiative to organize this open debate on post-conflict peace building and my pleasure at seeing Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary presiding over today's meeting. This open debate provides a forum to the international community for a focused discussion on ways and means to provide more effective assistance for post-conflict peace building and strengthen mutual cooperation in this regard. This is of great significance to maintenance of international peace and security.

Mr. President,

Peace building is a common challenge facing mankind and a major issue that the UN and the international community need to address urgently. In today's world where the fates of the people of all countries are closely interconnected, doing a good job in peace building is not only helpful in ensuring the lasting peace and sustained development of the post-conflict countries, but also conducive to the enhancement of the current collective security system and to the common development of mankind. The international community should attach great importance to this issue and examine it from a global strategic perspective.

How to ensure that conflicts do not re-erupt? How to enable the population to enjoy the peace dividend? How to transit from fragile peace to a harmonious society by the people and for the people? What role can the countries concerned play in peace building? How can the international community, the United Nations in particular, provide effective and timely assistance? To these questions, we do not have ready answers, nor do we have much experience to rely on. It is my hope that more ideas will come out at this meeting and I'd like to make a few observations on behalf of China concerning the above questions:

First, the country concerned bears the primary responsibility for its peace building. The ultimate purpose of peace building is to build a modern state which is peaceful and stable with economic development, respect for human rights and rule of law; the fundamental basis of peace building efforts and the biggest beneficiaries of peace building results are the local population. Without the active participation of the government concerned and enthusiastic support of the local population, a lasting peace is hard to imagine. Therefore, we should trust the local people, rely on the local government and encourage them to use their talent and ingenuity to lay down a sound reconstruction plan so that they can really own and fully engage in the peace building process.

Secondly, the international community has the important mission of assisting the countries concerned to realize peace building. As a brand new task, peace building requires that the countries concerned, the UN system, member states, regional organizations and the civil society make concerted efforts in order to address problems in multiple areas such as security, development, human rights and rule of law in an integrated manner. In practice, usually what the countries concerned lack is not political will, but the necessary capacity for peace building. Here, the international community can use its advantage in areas like finance and technology to provide constructive assistance to the countries concerned. We have taken note of the relevant ideas in the concept paper prepared by the UK, including enhancing international coordination, ensuring flexibility in financing and establishing a civilian rapid deployment force. I want to particularly stress that the envisaged civilian expert force should have expertise in various aspects from security and rule of law to human rights and development, and that if conditions permit, it should help the countries concerned build up the local expertise. We encourage member states and the relevant organizations to take up main responsibilities in this connection and we believe that the UN can play an active role in this regard.

Thirdly, the African continent should be the area of priority attention when it comes to peace building. As one of the most turbulent continents of our world and the area where the implementation of MDGs is the least promising, Africa is faced with multiple challenges such as frequent conflicts, economic backwardness, severe natural disasters, food crisis, etc. We must recognize the fact that without the stability and development of Africa, there will be no world peace and prosperity. By helping Africa, we are helping ourselves. Currently, peace in many African countries is extremely fragile and urgently needs our special attention and careful nurturing. The fact that the agenda of the Peace Building Commission is dominated by situations of African countries demonstrates the universal agreement of the international community about the special needs of Africa. In the future, the international community should continue to increase input in the cause of peace building in Africa.

Mr. President,

As the organ entrusted with the sacred mission of maintaining international peace and security, the Security Council should play a crucial role in peace building. We should work together with other UN organs such as the PBC, GA and ECOSOC, rely on the membership of the UN, enhance coordination with regional organizations, continuously promote the idea of peace building and keep pushing forward the cause of peace building.

Thank you, Mr. President.