China's special envoy calls for preserving sovereignty of Syria

DAMASCUS - China's Special Envoy for Syria Xie Xiaoyan on Thursday renewed the Chinese government's calls for respecting and preserving the unity of Syria.

Speaking at a press conference in the capital Damascus, the envoy said that the Chinese government has always called for preserving the territorial integrity of Syria.

Xie stressed that China rejects any fragmentation of Syria while supporting a political solution to the country's over seven-year-long crisis.

"We always say that the sovereignty, independence and its territorial integrity of Syria must be respected and preserved," he said.

The Chinese envoy said the prolonged crisis in Syria has created a tough humanitarian crisis, noting that the international community must do more to provide assistance to Syria.

He pointed out the fact that the crisis left "large destruction in Syria for both the country and the people," urging "the international community must offer more assistance to Syria in order to enable it to overcome this severe crisis."

Xie highlighted China's willingness to participate in the reconstruction process with the international community, adding that China has held a reconstruction training course for Syrian officials, business people and scholars in Shanghai in May.

He underlined that the reconstruction work takes joint efforts of the international community and should be considered a comprehensive systematic project integrated with economic development, social progress, and real reconciliation.

"we care a lot about the reconstruction process after the war and we encourage the Chinese companies to participate in this process," he said.

Xie also condemned the wide-scale offensive and bombings carried out by the Islamic State in Syria's southern province of Sweida a day earlier, which left over 215 people killed and 180 others wounded.

He stressed that there should be a unity to confront terrorism.