China welcomes the convening of today’s open meeting and thanks the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. De Mistura, for his briefing.

The Syrian conflict has been going on for six years now, resulting in considerable civilian casualties and destruction of the State. China is deeply sympathetic to the suffering endured by the Syrian people and strongly appeals to all Syrian parties to proceed with the future of the country and the welfare of its people in mind, and to find an appropriate solution to the conflict as soon as possible through dialogue and consultation.

Recently, the relevant parties made joint diplomatic efforts, launched the Astana dialogue on Syria, maintained the overall momentum of the Syrian ceasefire and created the conditions to resume the Geneva talks. China hopes that the Astana dialogue continues to play an important role in maintaining the ceasefire and advancing the intra-Syrian talks to achieve progress.

A political solution is the only way out of the Syrian impasse. Military means will not solve the problem. In the last round of intra-Syrian talks, all Syrian parties negotiated political governance; constitutional, elections, counter-terrorism, security and confidence-building measures. That gave expression to their attitude of active participation and enabled positive progress in the political process in Syria. In the current situation, all relevant parties should continue diplomatic efforts, prevent the deterioration of the situation in Syria, continue to support the United Nations as the main channel for good offices and support the work of Special Envoy Mr. De Mistura. The Security Council should prioritize the interests of Syria and its people and play its constructive role in advancing the Syrian political process. China appeals to all Syrian parties to continue to maintain the ceasefire, follow the Syrian-owned and Syrian-led principle to gradually develop a comprehensive and durable solution through dialogue and negotiation that is acceptable to all.

The fight against terrorism is an important and pressing issue in the solution to the Syrian issue. The counter-terrorism situation in some parts of Syria has taken on new complexities in recent times. The international community should be highly vigilant about related developments, strengthen coordination and cooperation, unify standards and combat all terrorist organizations listed by the Security Council. China welcomes the Brussels international conference on Syria that was convened recently. China would like to work with the international community and continue to play a positive and constructive role in advancing the political solution to the Syrian issue and in easing the humanitarian situation in the country so as to advance a comprehensive, just and appropriate solution to the Syrian issue as soon as possible.