Mr. President,

China thanks Vietnam for its work as President of the Council during the month of January, and congratulates Belgium for assuming the Presidency of the Council for this month.

I thank USG Nakamitsu and Mr. Spleeters for their briefings.

The international security situation is complex and grave at present, with regional conflicts and hot spot issues popping up one after another. As stated by the Secretary General in his report, the illicit trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALWs) aggravated regional armed conflicts, abetted violent extremist forces, terrorists, and organized crimes, and has been obstructing peace, security and development.

The Security Council and the Secretary General himself have made positive effort, and achieved effective results, on SALWs. The Council adopted Resolutions 2117 and 2220, and gave due consideration to SALWs when considering regional hot spots. The Secretary General put SALWs as a priority concern in his disarmament agenda, and set up a new trust fund to support the efforts of all countries. In order to further prevent and counter the illicit trade of SALWs, China would like to propose the following:

The first is to focus on political settlement. The settlement of disputes through political and diplomatic means and maintenance of international and regional peace and stability is the key to eliminating the illicit trade of SALW. We should intensify peace-keeping and post-conflict rebuilding effort to assist the concerned countries in achieving economic prosperity and sustainable development.

The second is to strengthen state responsibility. The governments bear the primary responsibility for combating the illicit trade of SALWs, and should establish and improve laws and regulations, and strengthen their enforcement. In addition, they should strictly implement Council resolutions on arms embargo, not transfer weapons to non-state actors, and prevent the trafficking of legitimate weapons to illicit channels.

The third is to enhance the UN leadership. States should earnestly carry out their international obligations such as the outcome of the 3rd Review Conference of the Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons as well as the International Tracing Instrument, support the Secretary General and UN agencies in playing their positive role, and push forward the multilateral process of countering illicit trade of SALW so as to share the security and governance dividends.

The fourth is to increase international cooperation. All countries should actively participate in practical multilateral, bilateral and regional cooperation on a voluntary and equal basis. In light of the needs of the developing countries, the international community should increase its assistance in institutional and capacity building, funding contributions, technology transfer and personnel training among other things, and effectively enhance their capacity in stockpile management, marking and tracing, collection and destruction of illicit firearms.

Mr. President,

The Chinese government consistently opposes the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons, and is prudent and responsible in their export, actively participates in international and regional cooperation, and endeavors to combat their illicit trade.

State Counsellor and Foreign Minister WANG Yi announced at the General Assembly last year that China had started its domestic legal procedures for the accession to ATT. This has fully shown the determination and sincerity of China in adhering to multilateralism, in actively participating in global governance of arms trade, and in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

China would like to work together with the international community to jointly combat the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons, appropriately address the humanitarian issues arising from the illicit transfer, excessive accumulation and abusive use of small arms and light weapons, and make our due contribution to the maintenance of international and regional peace and stability.

Thank you, Mr. President.