Mr. President,

Congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the meeting. China welcomes the accession of Singapore and Trinidad and Tobago to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

At present, the international security situation is grave and complex, with military conflicts erupting in different regions. The excessive accumulation, abuse and irresponsible transfer of conventional weapons have exacerbated regional tensions and triggered serious humanitarian crises. Strengthening conventional arms control has become an urgent task for the international community. The convention has an irreplaceable role to play in resolving the humanitarian problems caused by the abuse of conventional weapons and in regulating the military application of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Mr. President,

China firmly upholds the authority of international multilateral arms control mechanisms. China has taken supporting global conventional arms control process as one of the priorities under the Global Security Initiative. As a high contracting party to the Convention and its five additional protocols, China has always attached importance to and supported the work of the Convention, advocated a balanced approach to addressing humanitarian concerns and the legitimate national defence needs of all countries, faithfully fulfilled its obligations under the Convention, provided donations to the Implementation Support Unit and actively promoted international exchanges and capacity-building cooperation in relevant areas.

China is committed to actively carrying out international cooperation on humanitarian demining and clearance of explosive remnants of war. In recent years, China has provided assistance to more than 40 developing countries. China will implement the Action for a Mine-free Africa recently announced by President Xi Jinping, and take this year’s China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which issued a joint statement on strengthening cooperation in humanitarian demining, as an opportunity to continue to provide assistance to the countries concerned.

China will continue to participate fully in the discussions on the Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). China maintains that all countries should take a prudent and responsible approach to the development and application of artificial intelligence in the military field, adhere to people-centered and AI for good principles, and continuously improve the security, reliability and controllability of artificial intelligence. China believes that the Convention is the most appropriate platform to discuss this issue, and hopes that the Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS could make tangible progress on the basis of existing consensus and complete its mandate as scheduled.

Mr. President,

All countries should create a favorable international environment for the promotion of conventional arms control. China stands ready to work with the international community, uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and make its due contribution to building a world of lasting peace and universal security.

Thank you, President,