China's role critical in supporting Syrian peace process

A UN spokesman on Thursday said China's role is critical in supporting the Syrian peace process, welcoming China's recent appointment of a special envoy for the Syrian issue.

"China, as a permanent member of the Security Council, has a critical role to support the work of the UN special envoy (Staffan de Mistura) and the peace process as a whole," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, at a regular briefing, in answering a question about China's role on the Syrian issue.

Dujarric also said the UN welcomes China's recent move to name Xie Xiaoyan as a special envoy on the Syrian issue.

In appointing a special envoy for Syria on March 29, China has shown a more active role in addressing the conflict in the Middle East country.

In Geneva, Switzerland, De Mistura said Wednesday that the second round of proximity talks aiming to broker a political end to the Syrian crisis has started.

China holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for April. Under China's leadership, the 15-member Council is expected to look at three aspects of the Syrian issue, namely the political process, use of chemical weapons and humanitarian access.

Source: XINHUA