China will continue to strengthen communication with relevant parties, including the parties to the conflict, and play a constructive role in deescalating tensions and restoring peace in the Middle East, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
Guo made the remarks in response to a media inquiry about China’s position on and efforts to promote deescalation in the Middle East.
"On the situation in Iran, Foreign Minister Wang Yi has recently continued his diplomatic mediation and once again communicated with his counterparts from the countries in the region by phone calls, calling for peace, an end to hostilities and deescalation. Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that this is a war that should not have happened, and it is a war that does no one any good. Without the authorization of the United Nations, the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran as the U.S.-Iran negotiation was underway, which clearly violates international law. All countries’ sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected," he said.
Over the past two days, Wang held phone talks with his counterparts from Kuwait, Bahrain, Pakistan and Qatar to exchange views on the situation in Iran.
Guo noted that China does not go along with attacks against countries in the Gulf region and condemns nondiscriminatory attacks against civilians or non-military targets. The pressing priority now is to stop military operations immediately and prevent the conflict from further spreading.
"The way out of the conflict is to return to dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible and strive for restoration of peace. The fundamental solution is to jointly return to the right track of abiding by international law and the basic norms governing international relations. Since the very first day of the conflict, China has unequivocally called for a ceasefire, an end of hostilities, return to dialogue and negotiation, and a political settlement. The special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue is now in the Middle East to carry out shuttle diplomacy," Guo said.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and sincere friend of Middle Eastern countries, China will stay committed to urging peace and defending justice and fairness, and China will continue to strengthen communication with relevant parties, including parties to the conflict, and play a constructive role for deescalation and restoration of peace, he said.
China to continue playing constructive role in deescalating tensions in Middle East: FM spokesman
China will strive to further reduce the number of heavy pollution days and improve water quality in rural areas during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu said on Thursday.
While meeting the press following the closing meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), Huang outlined the main tasks of pollution control during the 2026-2030 period.
Although the national average proportion of heavy pollution days has dropped to less than one percent last year, said Huang, during autumn and winter seasons, such weather events still occasionally occur in certain regions, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surround areas, as well as urban clusters in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, reducing the number of heavy pollution days will continue to be a major task for relevant authorities, he said.
"An important goal of pollution prevention and control during the 15th Five-Year Plan period is to continue reducing the number of heavy pollution days. We are quite confident in achieving this. We will adhere to the approaches of systematic and source-based management, addressing both symptoms and root causes, with a focus on the latter. In particular, we will seize the favorable opportunities brought by advancing the goal of peaking carbon emissions during the 15th Five-Year Plan period and the promulgation of the Ecological and Environmental Code today to promote green and low-carbon development of our industrial, energy, and transportation structures, as well as the development of new quality productive forces. Our fundamental solution is to reduce pollutant emissions at the source," he said.
Water quality improvement is another major task, according to Huang.
Over the years, China has seen significant progress in managing the water quality in major rivers and lakes, but in rural areas and urban-rural fringe areas, pollution problems, like black and odorous waters, remain quite prominent in small and micro water bodies, he said, adding that these pollution sources near people's homes may seem minor, they are actually directly related to the well-being of the people.
"This year, we will introduce relevant documents to deepen water pollution control, shifting our focus and efforts further towards rural areas, urban-rural fringe areas, and counties. At the same time, we'll set up over 200 national-level monitoring sites and a number of monitoring sites at the provincial level, in order to help local authorities to better manage small and micro water bodies," said Huang.
China will strive to further improve air, water quality in following five years: minister
