A Chinese envoy on Thursday called on the international community to help Somalia improve its governance capacity.

The international community should continue to pay close attention to the situation in Somalia and focus its constructive assistance on areas including "helping Somalia improve governance capacity and strengthening Somali's security capacity building and support," Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on the situation in Somalia.

"The Security Council and the international community should adhere to the principle of Somali leadership and Somali ownership, and on the basis of respecting the Somali government's leadership, help the country advance its political process, enhance federal institutions, and improve the relations between the Federal Government and member states' governments so as to create favorable conditions for the next year's elections to be peaceful and smooth, and further consolidate the sound momentum of the Somali peace process," said the Chinese envoy.

Speaking of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), Wu said that for AMISOM, in the implementation of its mandate to improve Somalia's security situation, the hard part is to tackle the terrorist threat.

"Since its establishment, AMISOM has been an active force in combating terrorist organizations, such as al-Shabaab, and has played an important role in maintaining peace and stability in Somalia," said the envoy.

"The international community should continue to support AMISOM in the delivery of its mandate, provide it with stable, predictable and sustainable financial support, and assist Somalia in the security capacity building so that Somali security forces can gradually take over security tasks and effectively assume the responsibility for maintaining national security," he said.

The Chinese envoy also called on the international community to deepen cooperation among the United Nations, the African Union (AU) and regional countries on the Somali issue.

"The international community should support the efforts of African countries to resolve African problems in African ways, support the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and other regional and sub-regional organizations in playing a leading role in the political settlement of the Somali issue and facilitate improvement of the situation in the Horn of Africa," he said.

Wu urged the world community to intensify efforts to address the root causes of conflicts and promote Somalia's economic and social development.

"The protracted conflicts have dealt a heavy blow to Somalia's economic and social development and caused severe humanitarian challenges," said the envoy.

"The international community should step up its assistance in the fields of education, health, food security and infrastructure," he said.

The envoy also noted that China has always supported Somalia's efforts in pursuit of peace and development, actively participated in Somalia's peace process and played a positive role in the political settlement of the Somali issue.

"China stands ready to continue to play a constructive role for the peace, stability and development in Somalia and the Horn of Africa," said Wu.

Somalia is making urgent preparations for universal suffrage elections, which will be the first of its kind in more than two decades since the outbreak of the civil war that followed the collapse of the Somali government in 1992.