Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese delegation congratulates you on your election to the presidency of this meeting. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your important and beneficial work in preparing and guiding the conference during the last year.

Mr. Chairman,

The Convention has been in force for 21 years, during which the international situation has experienced up-and-downs and the international security and arms control situation has undergone significant changes. Notwithstanding such changes, the Convention has all along kept its vigor and vitality. The number of the States Parties to the Convention has risen from about 20 at the initial stage to 94 by now. The purposes and objectives of the Convention have been universally recognized and progress has been made continuously in all related fields of the Convention. The role and influence of the Convention has grown gradually. All these achievements have been made through the joint efforts and cooperation of the States Parties.

The reason why the Convention can stand the test of time mainly lies in two basic characteristics of it:

First, the Convention places equal emphasis on the humanitarian concerns and legitimate military needs and successfully strikes the balance between them. Therefore, the Convention accords with the common aspirations of the international community and the historical trends of peace and development, and accordingly, plays a significant role in both the conventional arms control and humanitarian fields.

Second, the CCW is a framework convention keeping abreast of the times. Over the past years, the international situation has been changing, science and technology progressing and weapons and means of warfare transforming. In order to fit in these developments, the work related to the Convention has never ceased and positive achievements have been scored gradually. Some protocols were amended in accordance with the necessity and new protocols added into the Convention. "Running water is never stale and a door-hinge never gets worm-eaten." The Convention per se is a self-strengthening, evolving, renovating, self-improving process, and thus, could keep up to the changing situation and always maintain its vitality.

The above two characteristics supplement each other and make irreplaceable contributions to the scientific and stable development of the Convention. We should by all means cherish them and always bear them in mind. Otherwise, the Convention would lose its foundation, and its healthy development would be endangered.

Mr. Chairman,

As an important outcome of the Second Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention, the Amended Article I of the Convention entered into force on 18 May of this year. We are gratified with that. The Amendment extends the scope of application of the Convention and its existing protocols from international armed conflicts to include non-international armed conflicts. This marks a significant development of the Humanitarian Law and further enhances the effectiveness of the Convention. We encourage those countries having not yet ratified the Amendment to do so as soon as possible, so as to ensure its effective implementation.

Mr. Chairman,

The adoption of the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) is another break-through related to the Convention and also an important contribution to the international arms control and humanitarian causes. The Protocol will help prevent and reduce the occurrence of the ERW and promote the clearance of the exiting and future ERW. The Protocol comprehensively addressed the humanitarian concerns inflicted by the ERW. The pressing task ahead is how to promote its early entry into force. China is positively studying ratifying the Protocol and stands ready to join efforts with other parties to promote its early entry in force.

We noted that some countries proposed initiating negotiation on technical retrofitting of certain specific types of munitions. In fact, this issue is closely related with the issue of ERW and has been fully discussed. The deliberations of the GGE to date demonstrated that technical retrofitting of certain specific types of munitions including submunitions is a very complicated issue involving technical difficulties, and does less help to solving humanitarian problems. To improve the reliability of these munitions is an effective solution to this problem. In this regard, a best practice concerned has been provided in the ERW protocol. Our first priority should be given to attracting more countries to accede to the Protocol and faithfully implement its provisions.

Mr. Chairman,

The issue of Mines Other Than Anti-Personnel Mines (MOTAPM) has been discussed for years. China has elaborated its concerns and positions for many times. We are in favor of seeking to address the issue of MOTAPM through appropriate channels and in a proper manner, on the basis of dealing with the humanitarian concerns and various countries' current MOTAPM situations in a balanced way, taking full account of countries' different capability in terms of economy and technology. The issue of MOTAPM has been discussed fully and comprehensively in the GGE, covering many aspects such as humanitarianism, military, technology and economy. The proposals became more concrete and the direction of our future work is clearer. The package solution proposed by China on this issue is realistic and feasible, taking into account the interests of all parties. Therefore, we expect that it will be further explored in a serious manner.

China is ready to join efforts with other parties to improve the universality, effectiveness and applicability of the Convention.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.