CRI听力:Syrian Opposition Leader to Visit China

Opposition leader Khaled Khoja is scheduled to stay in China from Tuesday to Friday, during which he is expected to discuss the Syrian peace process with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

He is the second key political player inside Syria to visit China within a month, after Wang hosted Syrian deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Walid al-Moallem in late December.

During that meeting, Wang Yi proposed three principals for pushing forward the peace process in the war torn country.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying explains.

"We hold that the Syrian issue must be solved through political dialogue, and we believe that the future of Syria should be decided by the people of Syria, and the Unites Nations should play a leading role. So China is now doing everything to move the Syrian issue along on the correct path of political dialogue as quickly as possible. We think it is the only and best way for the Syrian people's interests."

The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted on a draft resolution at the end of last year.

The resolution endorsed an international roadmap for a Syrian-led political transition, and called for a ceasefire.

To achieve the goals, world powers are now hoping to bring representatives of the Syrian government and opposition together to launch the intra-Syria peace talks in Geneva on Jan. 25.

Hua Chunying says China is willing to work with all parties relevant to the conflict.

" Each party should also make a concerted effort and be united as one to jointly combat terrorism, to push relevant Syrian groups to cease fire and stop violence, and to sit down as soon as possible to start and continue dialogue to reach a peaceful solution which is feasible and accepted by each Syrian party as soon as possible."

Geneva has been the venue for two previous rounds of the UN-mediated Syrian peace talks between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, but the talks have failed to yield any significant results.

The Syrian conflict has raged for nearly five years, killing around a quarter of a million people.

For CRI, this is Niu Honglin.