FILE: UN Headquarters, New York City - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. UN flag
2. UN emblem

UN Headquarters, New York City - May 29, 2026 (UNTV - For news purpose only/No archive/Not for other production use)
3. Meeting in progress
4. Representatives of South Sudan
5. Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to UN, speaking
6. Representatives of South Sudan
7. Meeting in progress

FILE: Juba, South Sudan - November 2024 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of people at market
9. Various of staff members of aid agency distributing food

FILE: Juba, South Sudan - May 23, 2023 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of South Sudanese evacuees

A Chinese envoy on Friday called on the United Nations (UN) Security Council to pay attention to the demands of South Sudan and countries in the region, after a resolution was passed to renew the sanctions on the troubled African country for another year.

On Friday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to renew for a year, until May 31, 2027, an arms embargo against South Sudan as well as targeted sanctions of travel ban and asset freeze against individuals and entities.

Resolution 2821, adopted with nine votes in favor and six abstentions, also extends the mandate of the Panel of Experts, which assists the work of the South Sudan Sanctions Committee, until July 1, 2027.

The African members of the Security Council -- the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Somalia -- abstained, along with China, Pakistan and Russia.

Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, urged the Security Council to consider the demands of South Sudan and countries in the region, adjust or lift relevant sanctions in a timely manner when conditions are ripe, and avoid using sanctions as a political tool to exert pressure or even interfere in its internal affairs.

Drafted by the United States, the resolution is a straightforward renewal of the measures without substantive changes to the resolution adopted a year ago.

The resolution reiterates the Security Council's readiness to review arms embargo measures, through modification, suspension, or progressive lifting of these measures, in light of progress achieved on the key benchmarks as set out in Resolution 2577 of 2021, and encourages the South Sudan authorities to achieve further progress in this regard.

It requests the UN secretary-general, in close consultation with the UN Mission in South Sudan and the Panel of Experts, to conduct, no later than April 15, 2027, an assessment of progress achieved on the key benchmarks. The resolution also requests the South Sudanese authorities to report, by the same date, to the Sanctions Committee on the progress achieved in this regard.

The resolution also states the decision to keep the targeted measures under continuous review, and expresses the Security Council's readiness to consider adjusting the measures, through modifying, suspending, lifting or strengthening measures to respond to the situation.

The UN sanctions regime against South Sudan, which includes asset freezes, travel bans, and a comprehensive arms embargo, was first established in March 2015.