China, Egypt urge peace talks between Syrian government, opposition

CAIRO - China and Egypt on Thursday urged the Syrian government and opposition to join UN-facilitated peace talks as early as possible.

"The Syrian government and opposition should implement UN Security Council Resolution 2254, participate in dialogue and peace talks led by the United Nations, and cease fire and violence as early as possible," the two countries said in a joint document.

The Chinese and Egyptian foreign ministers inked the document, a five-year outline on cementing the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, in Cairo at the presence of visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Resolution 2254, unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council in December 2015, sets out a roadmap for a Syrian-led political transition to end the country's conflict.

In the outline, which elaborated the two countries' common stances on international and regional affairs, China and Egypt agreed that the Syrian crisis should be resolved in a political way.

The two sides pledged to ensure Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and stressed that the fate of Syria should be determined by the Syrian people on their own.

China and Egypt will continue to make joint efforts to promote a political process for the Syrian issue, according to the document.