(The Hague, October 10, 2023)

Mr. Chairman,

Please allow me, on behalf of the Chinese delegation, to begin by welcoming you back to the chair of the Executive Council. The Chinese delegation will work with all the other delegations in actively assisting you in your work, adhering to the principle of forging consensus, improving the EC’s work and its atmosphere and bringing this session to yield positive results.

The Chinese delegation listened carefully to the statement made by the Director-General and the reports by the Vice-Chairpersons of the Council. China associates itself with the statement made by Azerbaijan on behalf of the States Parties of the Non-Aligned Movement and China. Now, please allow me to elaborate further on China’s positions.

Mr. Chairman,

Today, changes in the world, in our times and in history are unfolding in ways like never before. Hot-spot issues are emerging frequently. Geopolitical conflicts are rising. And unilateral and bullying practices are on the rampage. It is at such a time that the international community needs more unity, cooperation, fairness and justice than ever before. Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward the Global Security Initiative, which advocates a commitment to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, with the object of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Not long ago, China issued Proposal of the People’s Republic of China on the Reform and Development of Global Governance. This proposal calls on the international community to act on true multilateralism and take up the shared task of working to strengthen and improve the global governance system.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the CWC opening for signature. In the last 3 decades, the OPCW has made substantial strides in establishing a stringent and effective verification mechanism, promoting the universality of the Convention and advancing the chemical disarmament and non-proliferation. All the parties should then value those achievements which have not come by easily. They should show the spirit of solidarity in addressing challenges, preserving the tradition of consensus and jointly maintaining the authority and effectiveness of the Convention. Now, I would like, on behalf of the Chinese delegation, to share the following propositions:

Firstly, we should stay committed to the nature of disarmament and speed up the CW destruction. Although the global destruction of the declared CW stockpiles has been completed by now, a world free of CWs remains a far cry. The CWs abandoned by Japan in China (JACWs) presents a far greater real harm. The fact that Japan has failed to meet the JACWs destruction deadline for 4 times and the destruction process is lagging far behind schedule constitute the No. 1 obstacle for achieving a world free of CWs. China urges Japan to fulfill its responsibility as the Abandoning State Party, implement the destruction plan in a comprehensive, complete and accurate manner, hasten the destruction process and complete the destruction of JACWs completely and thoroughly at an early date. At the same time, it should properly address the issue of the contaminated soil. China hopes that the OPCW will reinforce its efforts for monitoring and verifying the JACWs destruction.

Secondly, we should preserve solidarity and cooperation and work to safeguard the authority and effectiveness of the Convention. In the recent years, as a result of geopolitical disruption, there has been an atmosphere of bitter confrontation and antagonism in the OPCW. Some States Parties have easily resorted to forcing a vote, while the consultation and discussion held on technical and routine items have been subjected to political manipulations. Such behaviour flies in the face of our tradition of consensus and our original intent of jointly building “a world free of CWs”. China advocates the practise of true multilateralism, using dialogue to replace confrontation, letting unity take the place of division and making sure that consultation supersede vote. The Convention represents the basis and yardstick for addressing CW-related issues. To resolve problems as per the Convention is the sole right way. And the investigation of the alleged use of CWs should revert to the framework of the Convention.

Thirdly, we should keep implementing the Convention comprehensively, and work to promote the international cooperation on peaceful uses in the field of chemistry. International cooperation is an important pillar of the Convention. We should strike a balance between security and development and work effectively to foster international cooperation, in order to ensure that States Parties, the developing nations among them, fully enjoy their legitimate right for peaceful uses. The Centre For Chemistry and Technology (CCT) is a fine platform for performing such tasks as international cooperation and capacity-building. The TS should better optimize the use of the resources from all quarters, tap fully into capabilities and potentialities, constantly expanding its toolkit of international cooperation and endeavour to develop the CCT into a forefront of international cooperation. China attaches high importance to international cooperation. During the Fifth Review Conference, China submitted, on behalf of 15 States Parties, the working paper entitled “Promoting International Cooperation on Peaceful Uses in the Framework of the Chemical Weapons Convention”. China will continue to support the TS actively in carrying out its variety of international cooperation activities.

Fourthly, we should stand to working pragmatically and efficiently and open up a new chapter of cooperation. On the basis of all the previous discussions, especially those during the RC-5, States Parties already reached extensive consensus on such topics as industry inspection and organizational governance and made some progress therein. It is China’s view that on the principle of not placing extra burden on the chemical industry, we should accelerate the reform of the mechanism of industry inspection and advance the reasonable and equitable distribution of the inspection resources. Ensuring an extensive geographical representation is a vital principle of organizational governance under the Convention. The increase of the representation of the personnel from the developing nations serving in the OPCW is significant for ensuring the health of the organization and its sustainable development. All States Parties should build on the momentum said above, reinforce their consultation and cooperation and bring tangible results out of the work in those aspects at an early date. This EC session is to consider the second OPCW biennium Programme and Budget. The TS should take this opportunity to conduct a comprehensive review of the experience, in particular, that of the performance of the first one, so as to optimize the budgeting and the budget management and its use, increase the transparency of budgetary allocations and make strategic planning effectively for the OPCW’s future development.

Mr Chairman,

China attaches great importance to the implementation of the Convention. It has always fulfill its obligations under the Convention faithfully, submitted its national declarations timely and efficiently and managed the import and export of the Scheduled chemicals according to law.  Being the second largest budget contributor, China has consistently paid its assessed contribution in time and in full, thus contributing significantly to the normal functioning of this organization.  China is the State Party which has the most facilities for inspection and submits the most declarations. All the time, China has submitted its declarations of all categories timely and accurately, and received the inspections efficiently and strictly as planned, with those missions numbering over 600 now. China will as always actively and constructively participate in all the activities of the OPCW and make yet greater contributions to the full and effective implementation of the Convention.

The Chinese delegation requests that this statement be circulated as an official document of this session and published on the OPCW's public website and external server.

Thank you, Mr Chairman.