Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese delegation wishes to thank Mr. Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for his statement which we appreciate.

In April this year, the 11th Congress on the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was held in Bankok, Thailand. One of its major outcomes is the Bangkok Declaration which clearly demonstrates the common wishes of all governments to enhance international cooperation and effectively prevent and combat crimes. It also sets objectives and makes recommendations for the work of the international community in the field of prevention of crime and criminal justice for the next 5 years.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the prevention of and crack-down on transnational crimes and has made great efforts in recent years to improve its domestic criminal justice, enhance the effectiveness of its law enforcement and strengthen international cooperation. At present, the drafting of an Anti-money laundering law is well under way in order to effectively control and combat money-laundering crimes. Law enforcement agencies in China have conducted many operations against organized crimes, smuggling activities and economic crimes, and destroyed a lot of gangs that committed violent or economic crimes and smuggling groups. The Chinese anti-corruption agencies have always made it a top priority to fight corruption and achieved remarkable results. On international cooperation, China has signed 71 mutual legal assistance treaties or protocols with 47 countries, most of which are related to mutual assistance on criminal justice matters. China also has signed extradition treaties with 23 countries and cooperated with some countries on the transfer of tried criminals. China has already approved the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and signed the Convention against Corruption. Right now, the National People's Congress which is the legislative body of China is proceeding to ratify the latter Convention. The Chinese government is ready to join other countries and the relevant international agencies in setting up mechanisms of exchange and consultation aimed at enhancing international cooperation in the field of justice and in carrying out substantive cooperation in various ways.

The Chinese delegation has taken note of the SG's account of the international drug control situation in his report and appreciates the hard work of the UNODC in coordinating and assisting various countries' drug control efforts.

Since last year, in line with the requirements made by the Special GA Session on Drug Control, the international community has continued to enhance drug control cooperation and has made much progress. The poppy-cultivation area in the Golden Triangle has been shrinking steadily and the growth rate of heroin-users has slowed down. However, the drug situation remains grave. Threats from traditional drugs such as marijuana are far from being eliminated and new types of drugs such as amphetamine-type stimulants are becoming rampant. Drug-related crimes are closely interrelated with transnational crimes such as terrorism and money laundering. More and more people are getting infected with HIV/AIDS due to drug use and the drug control activities of developing countries are seriously under-funded.

Due to historical reasons, the Chinese government is fully aware of the dangers of drugs and has all along adhered to a comprehensive approach towards drug control, formulated an integrated and balanced national drug control strategy and mobilized various government agencies and the whole society to participate in drug control. China is drafting a Drug Control Law and has made remarkable progress in recent years in drug control enforcement and in reducing demand for drugs. In 2004, China cracked 98,000 cases of drug-related crimes and seized 10.83 tons of heroins, 2.75 tons of methamphetamine, 3 million tablets of ecstasy and over 160 tons of precursor chemicals, and stopped 3513.65 tons of various types of precursor chemicals from being exported illicitly. The Chinese government has also taken steps to reduce the drug consumption market in order to minimize the threat of drugs to the health of its people and has focused on cutting drug supplies from their sources.

The Chinese government highly values the role played by enforcement cooperation and legal assistance in combating transnational drug crimes. In 2004, together with the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and other neighboring countries, China cracked several big transnational drug trafficking cases. Under bilateral drug control agreements as well as within the framework of "the Cross Border Drug Enforcement Cooperation" project of UNDCP, China has carried out cooperation with Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia in legal assistance and the transfer of suspects. Furthermore, the Chinese government contributed 500,000 Yuan respectively to the alternative development projects in the northern regions of Myanmar and Laos and hosted a seminar on alternative development in the ASEAN region in August.

Mr. Chairman:

To have a drug-free world, the international community must implement international drug control conventions in a comprehensive and effective manner and actively participate in the joint international operation on the control of precursor chemicals and prevent precursor chemical from flowing into illegal channels. The developed countries should honor their commitments and increase financial and technical assistance to the transit and source countries.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.