Quotable

We need to make it clear to the world with action that the commitment of the Asia-Pacific to economic globalization is unchanged and its confidence undiminished."

President Xi Jinping, addressing a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization on Nov 20. Xi called for the early establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific, or FTAAP, saying it would take the regional economy to a new level.

"Nations that ratified the Paris Agreement reaffirmed their commitments to achieve goals submitted to the United Nations. These have injected confidence at a time when we are moving forward, and help accelerate actions across a broad range of issues to tackle climate change challenges."

Xie Zhenhua, Chinese climate special envoy, praising the success of the Marrakech Climate Conference in Morocco.

"The international community should accelerate its efforts to have all parties in South Sudan return to the track of political settlement and peace agreement implementation, so as to resolve differences through dialogue and negotiation in a joint effort to achieve peace, stability and development in South Sudan."

Wu Haitao, China's deputy representative to the UN, speaking at a Security Council meeting on South Sudan. Wu noted that the overall situation in the country remains grim, with many barriers for humanitarian assistance.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/25/2016 page2)