When it comes to rebuilding, China usually answers the call. It showed good intentions, despite the fall on December 8, 2024, of Bashar al-Assad, whom it had received a little over a year earlier, in September 2023, contributing at the time to the Syrian president's effort to break himself free from his isolation, even though Beijing had been careful not to make significant investments in war-torn Syria. Unlike two of its main diplomatic partners, Russia and Iran, China did not become involved in this conflict. It thus has some leeway, especially as its new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is himself pragmatic towards China's friends Moscow and Tehran.

"China has long pursued a policy of friendship and cooperation with Syria ... We stand ready to continue working with the international community for Syria to have a smooth transition and gradually embark on a path of peaceful development," said Fu Cong, China's representative to the UN, at a meeting of the Security Council on January 8.

Admittedly, China, which has continually condemned the color revolutions, the "Arab springs," and any uprising against the regimes in power, used its UN veto power eight times during the Syrian civil war to protect al-Assad from sanctions, half of its vetoes since the United Nations' creation. But it can now underline that it has always fought against sanctions at a time when Al-Sharaa is calling for those adopted by the U.S. and the European Union to be lifted to begin the country's recovery process.

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