On November 24, 2017, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Political and Media Advisor to the Syrian President Bouthaina Shaaban at the Foreign Ministry.

Wang Yi expressed that the situation in Syria is turning into a new development stage which centers on political settlement. Counter-terrorism, dialogue and reconstruction are the three key points for solving the Syrian issue, with anti-terrorism as the foundation, dialogue as the way out and reconstruction as the guarantee.

Wang Yi said that recently, focusing on the political arrangement for Syria in the future, all parties have conducted intensive interaction with each other, which is believed to be conducive to achieving positive results from the Geneva Peace Talks as well as pushing forward the political settlement process for forward-looking development along the right track. Dialogue and negotiation are the only way out for solving the Syrian issue. In this process, we must safeguard the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria and maintain the core status of the Syrian people in the political settlement process. As a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, China will actively participate in and support the political settlement process of the Syrian issue according to relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the merits and demerits of the issue. China hopes Syria will seize the opportunity and show flexibility to push the dialogue and negotiation for tangible results.

Wang Yi noted that although cooperation of the international community in counter-terrorism has achieved important results at the current stage, the situation of counter-terrorism in Syria still remains severe. The international community should put aside differences while continuing joint efforts in counter-terrorism and combating remnants of terrorist and extremist groups in a bid to prevent them from spreading and backflow.

Wang Yi noted that only by advancing reconstruction steadily can we give the Syrian people hope and provide guarantee for the long-term peace and stability in Syria. The international community should attach importance to and actively support the reconstruction of Syria. China will also make its own efforts to this end.

Bouthaina Shaaban agreed with Wang Yi's proposition on the current Syrian issue and highly praised China's just position. He noted that Syria is willing to actively participate in the political settlement process and welcomes China to play a greater role in the process.