China called on the international community to promote peace in the African Great Lakes region, a Chinese envoy to the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the statement at a UN Security Council meeting on the region to discuss the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the regional situation.
"Recently, progress has been made in the African Great Lakes region's peace process, but there remains a significant gap between diplomatic commitments and the situation on the ground. The conflict in eastern DRC continues to drag on and the Ebola outbreak has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. The international community must redouble its efforts to help restore lasting peace in the region," he said.
China called on all parties to the conflict to fully implement the ceasefire mandated by UN Security Council resolutions, said Sun.
He also urged the international community to support and genuinely respect the central role of the African Union in the regional peace process and coordinate humanitarian relief and epidemic prevention and control efforts.
The Chinese envoy also called on countries in the region to uphold good-neighborly relations, respect each other's sovereignty, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve common development.
China urges int'l community to promote peace in African Great Lakes region: envoy
China's foreign-invested enterprises posted record trade volumes in the first three quarters of 2026, with imports and exports growing steadily and high-tech exports surging, according to the latest customs data released on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Wang Jun, spokesman and deputy head of the General Administration of Customs, said foreign-invested enterprises are an important force in China's foreign trade.
"Foreign-invested enterprises are an important force in China's foreign trade and both participants in and beneficiaries of 'China Opportunity 2.0.' In the first three quarters of this year, their imports and exports reached 11.69 trillion yuan (1.75 trillion U.S. dollars), up 19 percent year on year -- a record high for the corresponding period in history," Wang said.
A wide range of foreign-invested enterprises are embracing the opportunities created by China's industrial upgrading and new quality productive forces development, Wang said, adding that they are integrating deeply into the country's industrial and innovation chains while continuing to root themselves more firmly in the Chinese market and scale up their investments.
"China has a population of over 1.4 billion and more than 400 million middle-income earners, and has been the world's second-largest importer for 17 consecutive years. This mega-market offers foreign-invested enterprises broad development space and long-term, stable growth prospects. In the first three quarters of this year, imports by foreign-invested enterprises grew 21.1 percent year on year," Wang said.
In particular, consumer goods imports by foreign-invested enterprises in China accounted for 34.5 percent of the country's total consumer goods imports. In the nine-month period, watches and clothing accounted for 83.4 percent and 62.3 percent of China's total imports in their respective categories.
In the first three quarters, foreign-invested enterprises in China traded 7.9 trillion yuan (1.18 trillion U.S. dollars) in intermediate goods, up 27.4 percent year on year. Key components for advanced manufacturing including electronic components, computer parts, and aircraft parts saw robust two-way flows.
More and more foreign-invested enterprises are achieving their own growth and development while continuing to deepen their presence in the Chinese market. In the first three quarters, more than 150 foreign-invested enterprises recorded import-export volumes exceeding 10 billion yuan (1.49 billion U.S. dollars), 20 more than the same period of last year.
"China's rich pool of high-quality human resources, favorable innovation environment, and diverse application scenarios help enterprises carry out technological research and development and bring products to the market, accelerating product iteration and upgrading for foreign-invested enterprises in China. In the first three quarters, exports by foreign-invested enterprises grew 17.2 percent year on year, with high-tech product exports surging 42.1 percent, significantly higher than their overall export growth," Wang said.
Currently, all foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing sector have been fully lifted, and national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises is being steadily implemented.
More foreign-invested enterprises are expected to firmly deepen their footprint in China, succeed and grow together with Chinese firms, and share in "China Opportunity 2.0" together, according to Wang.
Foreign-invested firms' trade hits record high in first three quarters
