Q: Can you brief us about the consultation among the Director-General of the International Departments of the Foreign Ministries of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council held in Shanghai on 8 January?

A: The consultation among the Director-General of the International Departments of the Foreign Ministries of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (hereinafter refereed to as P-5) was held in Shanghai on 8 January. Since China is the current coordinator of the P-5, the consultation was chaired by the Director-General of the International Department of the Foreign Ministry of China and participated by his counterparts from France, Russia, the UK and the US. They held wide and in-depth exchange of views on a series issues ranging from the follow-up actions of the P-5 Summit, the Iraqi question, Brahimi Report (on UN peace-keeping operations) to the Middle East question. They all maintained that the consultation was very important and was a crucial part for the implementation of the follow-up actions of the P-5 Summit.