(Geneva, 24 February 2025)

Madam President,

I would like to congratulate you on assuming the rotating Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament (CD).

As we look at the present, geopolitical conflicts keep flaring up, and international strategic stability has been seriously undermined. Which one should we choose, war or peace? cooperation or division? Multilateralism and global governance, or unilateralism, power politics and bloc confrontation? We are once again at a crossroad.

Facing a world of intertwined changes and turbulence, all countries need to join hands and cooperate to revitalize the multilateral arms control mechanism and safeguard international peace and security. To this end, China would like to put forward  the following points:

First, we should uphold right security concept.

It has been over 30 years since the end of the Cold War, yet Cold War mentality and zero-sum games are still haunting, and exclusive military cooperation blocs keep emerging. Unilaterally withdrawing from treaties and organizations, putting one’s own country first and rejecting win-win cooperation will only lead to a lose-lose situation in the end.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind and the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and  the Global Civilization Initiative. These are China's proposals for reforming and improving global governance. We call for an equal and orderly multi-polar world, and an universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. We advocate a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and respecting reasonable security concerns of all countries. The core concept of multilateral arms control mechanisms represented by the CD is to uphold multilateralism and achieve common security. Maintaining and strengthening multilateral arms control mechanisms will bring hope into world peace and security.

Second, we should maintain global strategic stability.

In recent years, certain nuclear power constantly enhances the role of nuclear weapons in its national security policy, upgrades its nuclear triad, builds nuclear alliance through nuclear sharing and extended deterrence arrangements, and even forward deploys strategic forces such as land-based intermediate-range missiles close to other nuclear weapon states. This country also attempts to seek an absolute security advantage, and plans to build “Iron Dome” system, an all directions multi-layered global missile defense system, which will seriously undermine strategic stability situation.

To achieve the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons is a common aspiration of all humanity. Nuclear disarmament should follow the principles of “maintaining global strategic stability” and “undiminished security for all”, and be advanced in a step-by-step manner. Countries possessing the largest nuclear arsenals should assume special and primary responsibility for nuclear disarmament and continue to make drastic and substantive reductions in their nuclear arsenals, so as to create necessary conditions for other nuclear-weapon states to join the nuclear disarmament process.

As the P5 coordinator, China has been actively promoting in-depth exchanges on nuclear policies among the P5, and calling on all parties to make genuine efforts to implement the joint statement of the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races. China will continue to promote the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty on “mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons” or issuance of a political declaration on this matter among nuclear weapon states, and support the CD in negotiating a legal instrument for providing negative security assurance to non-nuclear-weapon states.

Third, we should strengthen governance on emerging technologies.

A forward-looking approach needs to be adopted for global governance on emerging technology such as AI, outer space, cyberspace and biotechnology. China supports the UN in playing a leading role in formulating a widely agreed governance framework and standards for AI through equal participation and full discussion, to ensure that AI technologies are safe, reliable, controllable and fair. We should give equal attention to security and development, and enhance capacity building of all countries, especially developing countries, through international cooperation so as to bridge the digital divide and share the benefits of AI. All countries, especially major countries, should adopt a prudent and responsible attitude towards R&D and the use of AI in the military domain.

We should pay close attention to the process of security governance in outer space and cyberspace. Last August, the UN PAROS GGE reached a consensus report, fully demonstrating that negotiating and concluding a legally-binding document on outer space arms control is a feasible path to solve the issue of outer space security. China advocates building a community with a shared future in cyberspace, and supports discussing and formulating international rules and even a legal instrument on data security and other issues on the basis of extensive participation by all parties.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of entry into force of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). China will continue to work closely with all countries to formulate effective measures to comprehensively strengthen BWC, improve global biosecurity governance, eliminate the threat of biological weapons, and promote the benefits of biotechnology for humanity. China advocates the establishment of a verification mechanism for the Convention to effectively address the issue of compliance by certain country. China will also continue to support initiatives to establish an international biosecurity institution and negotiate an International Convention for the Suppressing of Acts of Chemical and Biological Terrorism.

Fourth, we should improve international non-proliferation order.

In recent years, certain countries, driven by their own interests, have overstretched the concept of national security and impose excessive export controls, while also manipulating the existing non-proliferation export control regime. The attempts to erect a technological iron curtain not only undermine the rights of countries to peacefully utilize science and technology but also seriously disrupt the international security order, especially the non-proliferation order. Reality has demonstrated that decoupling only deprives oneself of opportunities and a “small yard with high fences” only ends up constraining oneself. Whether it is aerospace, semiconductors or artificial intelligence, blockades and obstruction can never stop China’s development and progress.

Last year, the 79th UNGA once again adopted by a large majority the draft resolution Promoting International Cooperation on Peaceful Uses in the Context of International Security submitted by China, demonstrating a firm stance in safeguarding the right to development and opposing the decoupling and disruption of supply chains. China will resolutely promote full and effective implementation of the resolution, give full play to the role of the UN in establishing a just non-proliferation order and safeguarding legitimate rights of the Global South. We urge a few countries to listen to the voices of the vast majority of developing countries and make the right choice.

Madam President,

This year marks the 80th anniversary of founding of the United Nations. Over the past 80 years, the UN has witnessed glorious journey of unity and cooperation in international community, and demonstrated the vigorous vitality of multilateralism. The UN Future Summit has reached the Pact for the Future, reaffirming the importance of multilateral disarmament machinery. The CD, as the cradle of the multilateral arms control treaty system, can only be strengthened and not weakened. The CD has made a good start this year, and the five subsidiary bodies have begun their work. All countries should cherish this hard-won favorable atmosphere, and constructively advance the work of the CD to restore the international community’s confidence in the CD.

First, to balance the concerns of all parties. All member states of the CD, big or small, are equal. The reasonable security concerns of all countries should be duly attended to and resolved. We should adhere to the principle of consensus based on mutual respect, and treat all the issues in a comprehensive and balanced manner. The subsidiary bodies and coordinators should strictly carry out their work in accordance with their own mandates.

Second, to strive for early gains. In terms of preventing an arms race in outer space, we already have in hand the draft treaty submitted by China and Russia as well as the report of UN PAROS GGE, which lay a solid foundation for further discussions in the CD. The negotiation and conclusion of a legal instrument on Negative Security Assurance echos with reasonable aspirations of the vast majority of non-nuclear-weapon states. The CD therefore should give priority to negotiation of legally-binding documents on PAROS and NSA.

Third, to pay attention to global governance of emerging issues. The development of emerging technologies has profound and complex impacts on international security. The CD’s agenda reserves space for us to address the challenges posed by emerging technologies. The CD should, together with the UN Disarmament Commission and the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, closely follow the impact of emerging technology such as AI on international security. We can invite renowned experts from the scientific and industrial circles to brief on the latest technological developments, providing reference for relevant discussions.

Madam President, 

The Chinese path to modernization is a path of peaceful development. China is the only major country in the world that has enshrined peaceful development in its Constitution. Since the very first day it acquired nuclear weapons, China has committed to never being the first to use nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and unconditionally not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon free zones. China is the only one among the five nuclear-weapon states to have made such a commitment. This policy has endured for 60 years without change, and has withstood the test of history. China has always kept its nuclear force at the minimum level required for national security, and has no intention of pursuing any arms race. China firmly rejects the groundless accusations launched by certain countries against China in today’s remarks. China will continue to firmly support the multilateral arms control mechanism with UN at its core, actively participate in the discussions on various topics of the CD, and contribute to maintaining international peace and security.

Thank you.