Respected Mr. Director-General,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At this time of golden autumn, delegates from various countries are gathering here in Beijing to discuss the national implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in the Asian region. I would like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, warm congratulations to the convening of this meeting, and my welcome to all of you here. I would also like to avail myself of this opportunity to thank the Technical Secretariat for its effective and orderly preparation for the Meeting.

Ever since the beginning of this new century, complex and profound changes have been taking place in the international arena. With the deepening of economic globalization, interdependence among countries is also growing. Maintaining peace, promoting cooperation and working for economic growth have become the main theme of our time.

However, this world of ours is not peaceful, as we see unstable and unpredictable elements obviously on the rising. Bloodshed conflicts caused by such conventional security factors as racial, religious and territorial ones have gone undiminished, while non-conventional security threats, characterized by cross-border crimes, epidemic diseases, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, are mounting by the day. Mankind is confronted with grave threats never faced before.

Looking back and forward, we should value even more the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was concluded twelve years ago and entered into force seven years ago. The Convention is the first international legal instrument which comprehensively prohibits and completely destroys an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, and lays down for this purpose a stringent verification regime. It has today become a successful model in the multilateral arms control and non-proliferation area.

Universality represents the vitality of the Convention, and is also the fundamental guarantee of the realization of a chemical-weapons-free world. We are delighted to note that, thanks to the efforts of the Technical Secretariat and States Parties, the number of States Parties have increased from 89 to 164 up till now. The Convention has already become one of the most universalized international treaties on arms control and non-proliferation.

Over the last seven years or more, all States Parties have trusted, assisted and collaborated with each other and the Technical Secretariat. Although the implementation process has not been all that smooth, achievements have been remarkable on the whole, which are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

Firstly, most Sates Parties, including major countries, have complied with relevant Convention requirements by timely submitting declarations to the OPCW and duly receiving inspections by the OPCW.

Secondly, the destruction of chemical weapons has been proceeding steadily. By March 2004, 12% of Category 1 chemical weapons had been destroyed, and Category 2 and Category 3 chemical weapons been basically all destroyed.

Thirdly, the verification regime has been going smoothly, and the verification deepening increasingly. Up to now, no non-compliance has been found in the routine verification under the Convention. This illustrates that the Convention has played a positive and effective role in preventing proliferation. At the same time, this also manifests the sincerity of States Parties in implementing the Convention, and serves to enhance trust among States Parties.

On the other hand, some problems have been encountered in the implementation, which merit our attention. For instance, the destruction of chemical weapons is lagging behind the timelines set by the Convention. Some States Parties are yet to intensify their financial and operational inputs. International cooperation has not yet received the attention it deserves, which requires States Parties to try and reach more common understanding and commence substantive efforts in this respect at an early date, so that all the parties will benefit therefrom.

In short, as an essential component of the international regime of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, the Convention's entering into force and smooth implementation has demonstrated the main theme of our time, which is cooperation for peace and cooperation for security, thus exerting a favourable and far-reaching impact on the maintenance and enhancement of international peace and security. Under the current circumstances, upholding the authority of the Convention and promoting a comprehensive and effective implementation of the Convention have assumed greater importance and more practical significance.

Respected Mr. Director-General,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Always in support of the objects and purposes of the Convention, China has attached great importance to the implementation and strictly and earnestly fulfilled its obligations. Pursuant to the provisions of the Convention and in accordance with the actual situations in the country, China has formulated and implemented its legislation relating to the implementation. It has established and constantly improved its nation-wide implementation network, which is administered by the Chinese National Authority. Over the past more than seven years, China has submitted all types of declarations timely and according to the required level of quality, and has successfully received over 80 inspections. Experience shows that the Chinese implementation measures have been effective.

Within the framework of "One China", China has been working towards advancing the implementation of the Convention in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The government of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region has already completed formulating relevant legislation and submitted declarations. The implementation there has now been launched. The government of the Macau Special Administrative Region has also been undertaking relevant preparations in an orderly manner, including the formulating of legislation for the implementation. On the premise of "One China", China is ready to properly resolve the issue of CWC implementation in the Taiwan region.

China has also encountered plenty of problems in the implementation of the CWC. The Chinese civilian chemical facilities are quite vastly distributed, with different levels of management. And the high personnel turnover in the National Authority makes it difficult to do a good job in submitting declarations and receiving inspections. Hard work is therefore required. With the cooperation between both China and Japan, some progress has been made in the disposal of the chemical weapons abandoned by Japan in China. However, in meeting the destruction deadline specified by the Convention, a large amount of substantive work lies ahead. The huge quantity of chemical weapons abandoned by Japan in China pose up to date a grave threat to the Chinese environment and to the Chinese people's lives and property. Within the framework of the Convention, and with the cooperation between China and Japan and the support of the OPCW, China hopes that the substantive destruction will be initiated at an early date, so that the grave threat posed thereby will be eliminated as soon as possible.

In conjunction with its own experience, China has the following observations and propositions:

Firstly, legislation must be formulated according to the Convention, in order to legalized the implementation, which is the fundamental guarantee and the basis for the implementation.

Secondly, the key to the implementation lies in establishing a well-functioning National Authority.

Thirdly, high attention should be given to resources input and to establishing and training an effective and professional implementation force, which constitutes an important guarantee for the implementation.

Fourthly, an important tool for the implementation is the heightening and deepening of the awareness of the industry community for the Convention through educative efforts and training.

Respected Mr. Director-General,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Asia is the largest continent with the most population on this planet. In recent history, peoples in Asia suffered a great deal from the scourge of aggression and war. Therefore, all governments and peoples in Asia always cherish and dedicate themselves to enduring peace and security in the world, and endeavour for the common economic growth and prosperity in the world community. With the joint efforts of all countries, the implementation of the Convention in Asia has had a good start and yielded gratifying results. I believe that with the hard work by all, the implementation in Asia will certainly see an even brighter prospect.

China has always held the view that, with regard of the implementation, all States Parties should learn from one another's strong points in order to make up for their weaknesses. This is highly important for realizing the objects and purposes of the Convention. It is also one of the purposes for which China has co-hosted this Regional Meeting. Present at this Meeting are more than 100 delegates from over 30 countries, States Parties or non-States-Parties. The attendance by you all fully reflects the high attention given to and support for the Chemical Weapons Convention by the international community, including Asian nations. In the next three days, delegates from different countries and experts from the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW will exchange views and hold discussions on such topics as the submission of declarations, reception of inspections, import/export control of chemicals, etc. This will be fairly important and beneficial.

Autumn is the season of harvest. I hope that we all will benefit from this Meeting. China is prepared to work with all other countries and the Technical Secretariat in a continued effort for achieving at an early date the objects and purposes of the Convention, completely eliminating the threat of chemical weapons and safeguarding global peace and security.

I wish the Meeting a complete success.

Thank you.