President,

China welcomes the unanimous adoption by the Security Council of resolution 2816, extending for one year the mandate of the Monitoring Team of the 1988 Sanctions Committee. The Council should continue to make good use of the 1988 sanctions regime and play a positive role in promoting lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. I would like to share the following points:

First, we should support the Monitoring Team in fulfilling its mandate. The Monitoring Team should continue to uphold objectivity and impartiality, leverage its professional expertise, and provide strong support to the work of the 1988 Committee. Attention should be paid to listening to the views of Security Council members and the wider membership, and to strengthening communication and exchanges with important regional organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. We welcome the Monitoring Team’s recent visit to Afghanistan and encourage it to maintain contact and dialogue with the Afghan government.

Second, we should resolutely eliminate terrorist forces operating in Afghanistan. Counter-terrorism is the core objective of the 1988 sanctions regime. The resolution just adopted expresses serious concern over terrorist activities in Afghanistan and reiterates that Afghan territory must not be used to support terrorism or threaten the security of other countries. We urge the Afghan government to earnestly fulfil its counter-terrorism obligations and, with more resolute and effective measures, thoroughly eliminate all terrorist forces operating in Afghanistan, including ISIL(Da’esh), Al-Qaida, ETIM/TIP, and TTP, so as to safeguard regional peace and security.

Third, we should support Afghanistan’s development and reconstruction. The resolution reiterates the need to help Afghanistan address its economic and humanitarian challenges, restore its banking and financial system, and use the assets of the Afghan central bank for the benefit of the Afghan people. China calls on the international community, particularly traditional donors, to scale up humanitarian and development assistance to Afghanistan, and urges relevant countries to unconditionally unfreeze and fully return Afghanistan’s overseas assets and to cease imposing illegal unilateral sanctions on Afghanistan. The resolution expresses deep concern over the ongoing ban on Afghan women from accessing UN premises since September last year. We call on the Afghan government to heed the reasonable concerns of the international community and to effectively safeguard the basic rights of all people, including women.

Fourth, we should timely adjust the sanctions regime. The Taliban has been in power for more than four years, yet many provisions of the 1988 sanctions regime have not reflected the profound changes in the situation in Afghanistan. The resolution just adopted reiterates the need to actively review sanctions measures and consider necessary adjustments in order to support peace and stability in Afghanistan. We call on the Security Council to attach importance to this issue and to conduct a systematic and forward-looking review and adjustment of the 1988 sanctions regime so that it can better adapt to the evolving situation. As a first step, the Council should promptly reinstate the standing travel-ban exemptions for relevant Afghan government officials, in order to facilitate international engagement and exchanges.

Thank you, President.