Madam President,

China thanks Ambassador Tarek and Ambassador Djani for their respective briefings. Over the past year, the Security Council's 1267 Committee, the Counterterrorism Committee and the 1540 Committee have maintained normal operations and actively carried out their work despite the impact of COVID-19. China commends the chairs of the three committees, as well as their teams, and the Secretariat for their efforts in this regard.

Terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction seriously threaten international peace and security. At present, the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging around the world. The socioeconomic fallout from the pandemic could exacerbate conditions conducive to terrorism and increase the medium to long term terrorist threats. It could also upset international non-proliferation efforts and heighten the risk of WMD proliferation. The international community should pay special attention to this issue and respond effectively through cooperation.

The 1267 Committee is an important mechanism of the United Nations and its Security Council for counterterrorism sanctions. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the Committee continued to fulfill its mandate in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions, conducted regular reviews of the sanctions list, strengthened cooperation with the monitoring team and the ombudsperson, and continuously improved its working methods. These efforts have produced positive results. China supports the 1267 Committee in communicating closely with the countries concerned, strengthening cooperation with regional and sub-regional counterterrorism mechanisms and maintaining its important role in assessing terrorist threats and strengthening sanctions. We hope that on such issues as listing exemption and delisting, the Committee will strictly abide by the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, as well as the guidelines for the conduct of its work, uphold the principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism, and work on the basis of solid evidence and broad consensus, so as to safeguard the authority and effectiveness of the sanctions regime.

The Counterterrorism Committee is mandated by the Security Council resolutions to track new threats and trends of terrorism and provide technical assistance to countries concerned. The Committee plays an active role in the international fight against terrorism. China hopes that the CTC will continue to enhance its dialogue with member states, analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the counterterrorism efforts of member states, especially developing countries, and prevent terrorist organizations from gaining strength under the pandemic. China supports the Committee's cooperation with international regional and subregional organizations to jointly tackle new challenges associated with the use of the internet and new technologies by terrorist organizations to instigate, plan, fund and implement terrorist attacks.

The 1540 Committee is an important part of the international non-proliferation regime. China supports the continued efforts of the Committee to abide by the mandate of the Security Council resolutions, comprehensively advance the implementation of resolution 1540, strengthen international non-proliferation cooperation and capacity building and give priority to meeting the needs of developing countries for international assistance. Last month, China adopted new laws on export control, and biosecurity. In October last year, China and the 1540 Committee jointly organized the third training course for 1540 points of contact in the Asia-Pacific region. China has taken concrete actions to continuously improve its own non-proliferation and export control regime and contributed to strengthening the capacity building of countries in the Asia-Pacific region. COVID-19 has brought challenges to international non-proliferation efforts and hampered the work of the Committee. We hope that the Committee will continue to perform its duties earnestly and conduct next year's comprehensive review of resolution 1540 in an open, transparent and inclusive manner. In this process, it is important to ensure the participation and say of developing countries, while taking into full consideration the international obligations and national circumstances of member states, so as to promote the lasting and effective implementation of the resolution.

Over the past year, the three committees have strengthened communication and coordination and achieved positive results, which is exactly what the Security Council aims to accomplish by holding joint briefings. China hopes that after the pandemic is brought under control, the three committees will be able to fully resume normal operations as soon as possible and continue to strengthen information sharing and coordination through such measures as joint meetings and joint visits, so as to form even greater synergy.

Madam President,

China firmly opposes terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as well as the proliferation of WMDs and their means of delivery. We will continue to implement the relevant Security Council resolutions and support the work of the 1267 Committee, the Counterterrorism Committee, as well as the 1540 Committee. We hope that the three committees, under their respective expert bodies, will enhance coordination, complement each other, continuously improve their work and pay more attention to the views of member states in order to make greater contributions to promoting international counterterrorism cooperation and improving the international non-proliferation regime.

Thank you, Madam President.