Madam Chair,

Under the current circumstances, China advocates that the international community pursues a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, practices true multilateralism, and supports the full, balanced and effective implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) so as to jointly maintain international peace and security as well as promote economic and social development.

Biosecurity knows no borders. Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI) which encourages all countries to practice the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits in global governance and jointly address biosecurity challenges and other global issues. China is ready to work with all parties in a joint effort to promote multilateral process in biological arms control and improve the global biosecurity governance guided by these principles.

The Biological Weapons Convention is an important cornerstone of the global biosecurity governance regime. It is important for the Working Group on Strengthening the Convention to achieve tangible outcome as mandated by the 9th Review Conference of the Convention in 2022, which would contribute to the conclusion, through multilateral negotiations, of a legally binding protocol, with a verification mechanism, that will strengthen the Convention in all its aspects.

Establishing a verification mechanism is the most effective means to address compliance concerns. China has submitted a working paper on the issue of verification mechanism under the Convention and encourages States Parties to examine the relevant issues and carry out substantive discussions in the Working Group. China urges some countries to refrain from creating obstacles to establishing a verification regime under the Convention.

China supports the establishment of an international organization dedicated to biological arms control and biosecurity. In this regard, China supports the draft resolution tabled by Kazakhstan entitled “Strengthening and institutionalizing the BWC by establishing a specialized body”.

China supports discussions aimed at improving the operation procedures of the Secretary-General's Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM), taking into consideration the evolving security situation in biological and chemical field and the development of science and technology. This year, a Chinese rostered laboratory successfully hosted a laboratory exercise, which was the 2nd exercise that China hosted, which achieved good results.

Madam Chair,

China is opposed to the use of chemical weapons under any situation by any country, organization or individual. Under new circumstances, the OPCW should promote the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in a comprehensive and balanced way. The destruction of chemical weapons should continue to be the priority for the OPCW, especially to ensure sufficient resources for the supervision and verification of the destruction of chemical weapons abandoned by Japan in China (JACWs). The platform of the Center for Chemistry and Technology and other multilateral and bilateral channels should be fully utilized to carry out more capacity building projects. We should reject attempts to use chemical weapon issues to provoke confrontation and polarization, making best efforts to uphold the authority of the Convention, and to maintain international and regional peace and stability.

China supports OPCW to hold the first Global Conference on AI in CWC implementation in Morocco this month, and hopes the Conference will consolidate States Parties' consensus on addressing the emerging technology challenges and promoting international cooperation. China is willing to share its experience and governance achievements in the development of AI, help developing countries to enhance capacity building, and provide more international public goods.

CWC has made clear stipulations on Japan's obligation and the deadline on the destruction of JACWs. With the joint efforts of China and Japan, some progress has been made on implementing the new destruction plan reached on 2022. In 2023, more than 22,000 items of JACWs were destructed, 3.8 times of the number in 2022. On the other hand, the destruction of JACWs has been repeatedly and severely delayed. Until now, about 400,000 items of JACWs were discovered in 18 Chinese provinces and over 120 locations. Only around 130,000 JACW items were excavated and recovered, and 100,000 items were destructed. Due to the insufficient clues provided by Japan, the location and quantity of the abandoned chemical weapons are still unknown, and new JACWs are constantly being discovered in various places.

This September, an EC delegation of the OPCW visited China and made a field visit to the JACWs disposal facilities. They reiterated the need to comprehensive and thorough destruction of the JACWs as soon as possible in accordance with the Convention, creating conditions for ultimately achieving “a world free of chemical weapons”. China looks forward to OPCW continuing to conduct serious review and verification on Japan's fulfillment of its international obligations. We once again urge Japan to accelerate the destruction of JACWs in all aspects and throughout the entire chain, and thoroughly get rid of the hazardous JACWs remnants as soon as possible.

Madam Chair,

Promoting international cooperation on peaceful uses of biological and chemical technologies is essential for developing countries to bridge the yawning technological gaps and development gaps, and to achieve sustainable development goals. China calls for the comprehensive and effective implementation of the UNGA resolution entitled Promoting International Cooperation on Peaceful Uses in the Context of International Security in full coordination with implementation of Article X of the Biological Weapons Convention, Article XI of the Chemical Weapons Convention and UNSCR 1540. While adopting necessary non-proliferation and export control measures to maintain international security, due consideration should be given to the right to development of all States. More priority should be accorded to peaceful uses and relevant international cooperation and more concrete measures should be taken to that end.

Madam Chair,

As concrete measures to implement the Global Security Initiative (GSI), China co-hosted in June the fourth Training Course for UNSCR 1540 Points of Contact in the Asia-Pacific Region with the 1540 committee and the UNODA, with support of the European Union. Last week, China hosted International Training Course on the Medical Aspects of Assistance and Protection Against Chemical Weapons with OPCW in Xi'an, China, for the third time. China will also co-host the Regional Workshop on Implementing the Biological Weapons Convention and Promoting Biosafety and Biosecurity in Southeast Asia with Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR, supported by the UNODA on October 23 to 25. China stands ready to make active contributions to promote global security governance in chemical and biological field.

Thank you, Madame Chair.