UNITED NATIONS - A Chinese UN envoy on Thursday stressed the need to ensure the independence of the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, which first met in October in Geneva.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting on Syria, China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Wu Haitao said the work of the committee should not be subject to external interference, nor should there be any artificially pre-set time frame.

"They should be left for the Syrian people to find their way out," he stressed. "The constitutional committee members should show political will, and in the spirit of compromise, actively participate in dialogues and consider effort to uphold Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity, and territory integrity."

Moreover, Wu said political settlement is the only way to end the conflict in Syria, adding that the UN should continue to advance the Syrian political process in accordance with the Syrian-led Syrian-owned principle and relevant council resolution.

In October, the Syrian Constitutional Committee made up of opposition, civil society and government delegations, each with 50 members, began its work for the first time in the same room inside the UN headquarters in Geneva.

The decision to establish the Syrian Constitutional Committee was adopted in Sochi, Russia, in January 2018.