China, statement to the Conference on Disarmament, September 4th, 2007
Unofficial transcription

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, at the outset I would like to congratulate you on your assumption of Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament. It is my firm belief that under your wise guidance the Conference will finalize the work of drafting its annual report in a smooth manner. You may count on the active support and cooperation of my delegation.

Mr. President, transparency in armaments is an important item on the CD agenda. I’d like to take this opportunity to brief you on the latest measures the Chinese government has taken in this regard. The Chinese government has all along attached a great importance to military transparency and is committed to confidence building with all other countries. Since 1995 we have published 5 white papers on national defense and 2 white papers on arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation, which illustrate China’s national defense policy, progress in national defense development, and our endeavors for arms control and non-proliferation. Moreover, we have conducted a series of bilateral and multilateral exchanges in the promotion of transparency in military matters.

As a continuation of the aforementioned efforts, the Chinese government has recently made the following two important decisions. First, starting from this year, China will report annually to the Secretary General of the UN the basic data of its military expenditures for the last fiscal year in accordance with UN GA Resolution 16/44. Second, in light of the fact that a certain country has stopped providing data on its illegal arms sales to the Taiwan province of China to the UN Register of Conventional Arms, China decides to resume providing annually the data of its imports and exports of conventional arms in the seven categories to the Register from this year. We have already submitted this year’s report to the UN Secretariat.

These two decisions are important steps on the part of China in further enhancing its military transparency, demonstrating that China pursues the new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, and cooperation, and supports the important role played by the UN in promoting transparency in armaments and mutual trust in the field of security amongst States. China will continue to make joint efforts with the rest of the world in advancing peace and security.