Pursuant to the United Nations General Assembly resolution 79/16 entitled Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East, the Government of China presents herewith the following positions and views on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East: 

1.The Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons, once established, will help prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, ease tension in the Middle East and enhance peace and security in the region and the world. While promoting reconciliation and cooperation among the Middle East countries and facilitating the Middle East peace process, the international community should attach great importance to and actively support efforts to establish a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons. 

2.The relevant resolutions and decisions of the previous sessions of the General Assembly, the resolution on the Middle East adopted at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and the relevant provisions of the Final Documents of the NPT Review Conferences in 2000 and in 2010 should be effectively implemented. The UN General Assembly Decision A/DEC/73/546 on convening a conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction should also be effectively implemented.

The resolution on the Middle East adopted at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference calls upon all States Parties to the NPT, and in particular the nuclear-weapon States, to extend their cooperation and to exert their utmost efforts with a view to ensuring the early establishment by regional parties of a Middle East zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction. The international community, and in particular the nuclear-weapon States, should honor their commitments to the Arab countries, actively support and advance the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction, so as to maintain the authority and effectiveness of the NPT review process.

3.Israel should accede to the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon State as soon as possible, place all its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, and stop making statements of threatening the use of nuclear weapons. States concerned in the Middle East should sign and ratify Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements with IAEA and the international community should continue to encourage States concerned in the Middle East to sign and ratify the Additional Protocol to the IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements as soon as possible.

4.China has always firmly supported the international efforts to establish a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction, and constructively participated as an observer in the five sessions of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, thus injecting new impetus to the establishment of the Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. China calls upon relevant nuclear-weapon State to earnestly fulfill its responsibility, respond to the legitimate requests of the Arab countries and actively participate in the above-mentioned process.

In May 2024, the 10th ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) adopted the Beijing Declaration and it emphasizes “support for all efforts aimed at the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction”. In September 2024, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) adopted the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027) and it emphasizes to “continue to support regional countries in their efforts to build nuclear and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zones in the Middle East”.

China will continue to actively participate in the relevant process and contribute to the early establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and the long-term peace and stability of Middle East. 

China hopes the above views will be reflected in the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.