Mr. Chairman,

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Over the past ten years, some major progress has been made in the international fight against terrorism, but the scourge, instead of being eliminated, has bred and spread in some regions, casting its dark shadow over the people there. What’s more, terrorists are resorting to diverse tactics and an increasing variety of methods of attack, posing a new challenge to the international fight against terrorism. The counter-terrorism situation remains complex and serious.

Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese government is consistently opposed terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It holds the view that the fight against terrorism should be carried out in line with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and recognized norms of international law, that national sovereignty should be respected and that it is impermissible to adopt double standards or link terrorism with a specific civilization, ethnicity or religion. The Chinese government supports efforts by the international community to eliminate terrorism, favours the enhancement of international cooperation as well as the UN’s leading and coordinating role in counter-terrorism activities, and embraces the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy as the guideline for international cooperation against terrorism. The Chinese government advocates that, in fighting terrorism, we should address both the symptoms and root causes of the problem, put equal emphasis on prevention and punishment, dedicate our efforts to peace and security, and eradicate poverty and social injustice so as to totally eliminate the breeding ground for terrorism.

Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese government is committed to removing the root causes of terrorism by actively creating a harmonious social environment and realizing social equity, justice, unity and stability through integrated efforts to promote economic development, raise the level of education and bolster the legal regime. China is intensifying its efforts to speed up legislative work, continuously improve the legal framework and strengthen capacity building in the counter-terrorism area. China continues to fulfill in earnest its obligations under all UN counter-terrorism treaties to which it is a party, and pays great attention to advocacy and education against terrorism to keep people away from the poisoning of extremist ideas of violence.

Mr. Chairman,

As a firm supporter and active participant of counter-terrorism cooperation, China has steadfastly enhanced its exchanges and cooperation with various parties in this field based on the principle of cooperation on an equal footing and mutual benefit.

Within the UN framework, China has actively supported and fully participated in the work of, inter alia, the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee (1267 Committee), the Taliban Sanctions Committee (1988 Committee), the Counter-Terrorism Committee (1373 Committee) and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF).

First and foremost, China took part, in a prudent and responsible manner, in the listing and delisting exercise of the 1267 and 1988 committees with a view to maximizing the impact of sanctions while minimizing to the extent possible their negative effect on the general populace and third states, thus safeguarding the authority of the Security Council.

Secondly, China has been deeply involved in the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and has submitted to the CTC on seven occasions its national counter-terrorism reports. During the committee’s review of other countries’ national reports, China has stressed the need to respect the choices made by member states with regard to their national counter-terrorism strategies and approaches and come up with fair and reasonable recommendations, taking into full consideration the conditions and practical difficulties faced by member states.

Thirdly, China supports the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (

CTED) and encourages CTED to mobilize resources from all channels to provide counter-terrorism-related technical assistance to the developing countries and effectively help them with capacity building in this regard.

At the level of bilateral and regional cooperation against terrorism, China held consultations with Japan, India, Russia and Korea, took an active part in the preparations leading up to the Global Counter-terrorism Forum and the discussions at the Forum and paid great attention to the role of such entities as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in advancing pragmatic regional cooperation against terrorism. To date, China has signed with close to 60 countries over 30 extradition treaties and more than 40 agreements on criminal justice assistance, which have formed at this initial stage a sizeable network for judicial cooperation, laying a more solid foundation for China’s external cooperation in combating all sorts of crimes, including terrorist activities.

Mr. Chairman,

In our view, a comprehensive counter-terrorism convention as a response to the new counter-terrorism situation facing the international community is a useful and necessary supplement to the existing international legal framework against terrorism, and is of great significance to perfecting the international counter-terrorism legal regime. The Chinese government attaches great importance to and active supports the formulation by the UN of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and will remain engaged in the drafting work with a cooperative and constructive approach. We hope that the remaining problems related to the Convention will be properly resolved for its early adoption.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.