Mr. President, 

On the outset, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Ambassador Anderson on assuming the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament (CD). It is my great honor to come back to the Palais de Nation after 15 years as China's newly appointed ambassador for disarmament affairs and to deliver my first statement at the CD. I look forward to working closely with all colleagues to advance the work of the CD.

Mr. President, 

Today the global security landscape is complex and grave. Hegemonism, power politics and unilateralism seriously undermine the post-war international order. Regional conflicts and instability emerge frequently. The global arms race is escalating. Security risks in emerging fields are on the rise and the multilateral arms control system is facing daunting challenges. It is the shared hope of the international community to establish a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture and rebuild a fair, just and reasonable international arms control system.

China always upholds the concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity and actively implements the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. China adheres to a vision of common comprehensive cooperative and sustainable security, advocates resolving security dilemmas through true multilateralism and upholds the two fundamental principles, ensuring undiminished security for all and safeguarding global strategic stability so as to bring stability to the turbulent and disordered security landscape. China commits itself to adjust cooperative, balanced and effective concept of arms control and has always been a builder of the international arms control process, a promoter of multilateral mechanism and a defender of world peace.

Mr. President, 

The CD as the only multilateral disarmament negotiation body, bears the noble mission of reducing the risk of war, resolving security dilemmas and promoting world peace. Under the current international security and arms control situation, the CD's unique and important role has become even more prominent. It is therefore imperative for all Member States to seek common ground while resolving differences and to work together to advance the work. I would like to share the following points.

First of all, we must stick to our original mission. In its history, the CD has adopted a series of vital legal instruments and made significant contributions to the advancement of international arms control and disarmament process. The current predicament facing the CD does not stem from the mechanism itself, hence it is not appropriate to diminish the value of the CD or to seek alternative arrangement. We should seriously consider how to effectively maintain the authority of the CD and enable it to fully play its role.

Secondly, we must uphold multilateralism. The principle of consensus is the core foundation of the CD's work and the fundamental safeguard for the interests of all Member States. Only by upholding true multilateralism, upholding the spirit of mutual respect and equal consultation, accommodating each other's legitimate security concerns and striving to seek the greatest common denominator will the Member States truly realize the effectiveness of the principle of consensus. All Member States should abandon Cold War mindset and zero-sum games and prevent turning the CD into a tool for geopolitical rivalry and political confrontation.

Thirdly, we must stress action-oriented approaches. In recent years, against the background of UN80 initiative, the call for reform of multilateral disarmament mechanisms on the rise. China supports improving the efficiency of the CD through proper appraoches. While seeking to reach a comprehensive and balanced programme of work, professional discussions can be conducted in the forms of plenary meetings or the establishment of subsidiary bodies, so as to accumulate momentum to revitalize the CD on the basis of a comprehensive and balanced approach to address all agemda items. We should also coordinate efforts to study the global governance of both traditional and emerging issues in the field of arms control and continuously inject new vitality into the CD.

Mr. President, 

There is a saying in China, “the road is long but we will get there with action. Stay the course and the bright future awaits.” I stand ready to enhance dialogue and cooperation with all colleagues to jointly safeguard existing multilateral arms control disarmament and nonproliferation mechanism and positively contribute to the international peace and security.

I thank you, Mr. President.