Madam Chair, dear colleagues,

China congratulates Madam Chair on your election, and supports the work of the Chair and the Secretariat as always. We welcome Ecuador and Vanuatu joining the Treaty, and we stand ready to work with other parties to work towards positive outcomes of this Conference.

Since the year of 2020, when China acceded to the Arms Trade Treaty, China has always been a firm supporter, faithful practitioner and active contributor. We strictly abide by the Treaty’s purpose and principles, consistently follow a prudent and responsible approach, and keep improving domestic arms export control system. We put forward and strictly observe the three principles for arms export: conducive to the legitimate self-defense capability of the recipient country; not undermining peace, security and stability of the region concerned and the world as a whole; non-interference in the internal affairs of the recipient country. Particularly, China only engages with sovereign states on arms trade and cooperation, and does not sell arms to non-state actors, which goes beyond the provisions of the Treaty.

As the largest contributor, China pays its assessed contributions on time each year, fully fulfills its obligations, faithfully performed its duties as a member of the Management Committee, and made due contributions to the effective operation of the Treaty mechanism. Meanwhile, China is opposed to the politicization, imposing discriminatory restrictions in the name of the Treaty and using false narratives to smear other States’ legitimate arms trade cooperation.

Madam Chair, dear colleagues,

The international security situation is under profound transformation, regional conflicts constantly persists, the volume of international transfer of major arms soar to a new high since the end of the cold war. Certain countries keep transferring arms to conflict-affected regions, which exacerbate the humanitarian crises. Meanwhile, emerging technology is reshaping the modalities of weaponry and arms trade landscape. The risks of illegal diversion, misuse of arms by non-state actors increase dramatically. How to further promote the universality and effectiveness of the Treaty, and improve the global arms trade governance are issues that the international community must address.

To further improve global arms trade governance, China proposes:

First, uphold the authority of the Treaty and practice multilateralism. All countries should firmly safeguard the existing international law and the international arms control system, reject a selective application of the international treaties, and oppose to unilateral sanction and long-arm jurisdiction. State Parties should discuss the further development of the Treaty following the principle of decision-making by consensus, and fully respecting the state parties’ national conditions and the legitimate security concerns. State Parties should encourage more countries, especially the major arms trade states to join the Treaty and collectively address the arms trade governance challenges.

Second, uphold a prudent and responsible stance and implement the Treaty fully and faithfully. All the State Parties should implement the Treaty fully, faithfully and in good faith, strengthen the risk assessment, improve domestic supervision and act with a sense of responsibility through the whole arms trade process. State Parties should translate the Treaty implementation into concrete actions for maintaining regional peace and stability and improving humanitarian situation, and oppose to double standards on Treaty implementation. China calls on all countries to positively consider refraining from exporting arms to non-state actors.

Third, improve the governance effectiveness and enhance international cooperation. State Parties should consistently improve the contribution efficiency, focus more on topics such as capability building, support for developing countries and emerging technology governance. Efforts should be made to strengthen the interaction and coordination between the Treaty and other relevant UN mechanisms to improve the efficient and effective use of resources. And we encourage states in a position to scale up its international assistance and engage in voluntary experience sharing and pragmatic cooperation with developing countries.

Madam Chair, dear colleagues,

As history has proven time and again that humanity is a community of indivisible security. China would like to strengthen communication and cooperation with all the parties, promote the global arms trade governance, and contribute to a  world of lasting peace and common security.

Thank you, Madam Chair.