China welcomes Mr. Angelino Alfano, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, to preside over this meeting. China also welcomes Foreign Minister Siala of Libya to participate in this meeting. China thanks the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Mr. Ghassan Salamé, and Ambassador Olof Skoog for their respective briefings.

The Libyan Political Agreement, concluded in December 2015, represents a major achievement of the Libyan people in their endeavor to restore peace and stability. Over the past two years, the people of Libya have made tireless efforts to implement the Libyan Political Agreement, and have achieved some progress. In the meantime, Libya is facing multiple critical challenges, ranging from significant political divergence, a fragile security situation, rampant terrorism and the problem of refugees and migrants etc.

China is following the situation and developments in Libya with close attention, and supports any and all attempts aimed at stabilizing the situation on the ground, advancing the political process and promoting the united efforts of Libyan parties to fight terrorism. The Libyan parties should work together and adopt positive measures to advance the political process. The international community should reach a further common understanding on the matter and offer effective assistance to the Libyan peace process.

First, the search for a political solution must continue as our guideline. The international community should respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Libya and continue to promote a political process that is led and owned by the Libyans themselves. The Libyan parties should demonstrate goodwill, settle their differences through inclusive political dialogue and, on the basis of the Libyan Political Agreement, find a solution that accommodates the concerns of all parties in order to restore national authority and achieve national reconciliation, peace, stability and the development of the country.

Secondly, maximum efforts must be made to secure security in Libya and to create enabling conditions for an inclusive and sustainable political dialogue. China supports the efforts of Libya to safeguard its national security and stability, and hopes that the Libyan parties will strengthen their dialogue, set aside their differences, and continue to cooperate in areas of common interest to the Libyan people, such as fighting terrorism and accelerating economic development.

Thirdly, the United Nations should remain the main channel for mediation. Recently, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), under the leadership of Mr. Salamé, has been working on the United Nations action plan to promote the political process in Libya. UNSMIL has extensively engaged with Libyan parties, facilitated dialogue between the House of Representatives and the High State Council, and conducted the meaningful exploration of key issues, such as amendments to the Libyan Political Agreement. China supports Mr. Salamé in steadily carrying out his work and appreciates the efforts of the neighboring States, the League of Arab States and the African Union to facilitate dialogue among Libyans. We hope that the parties concerned will continue to advocate peace and promote dialogue and we urge all parties to demonstrate flexibility and actively participate in national reconciliation. China is ready to work consistently with the international community and make its own contribution to the early restoration of security, stability and prosperity in Libya.