China, always supportive of the principles and goals enshrined in the Chemical Weapons Convention, has made remarkable progress in carrying to the letter the convention, said a senior Chinese diplomat Monday at the opening of an Asian regional meeting.

China, under its due obligations, enacted laws and codes, set up institutions across the country, submitted declarations and accepted more than 80 inspections for the sake of better implementing the convention, said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui.

Addressing the second Regional Meeting of National Authorities of State Parties in Asia, Zhang said the world has been facing stark challenges since such traditional security issues as religion and territory have not been reduced while terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and other nontraditional security issues have been on rise since the incoming of the new century.

As the first legal document aimed at completely prohibiting and destroying whole range of weapons of mass destruction, the convention, with strict inspection mechanism, has been carried out smoothly, acknowledged Zhang. The convention "is of realistic significance for safeguarding international peace and security".

More than 130 delegates from 32 countries at the meeting compare notes and learn from one another on implementing the convention, and this will definitely be conducive to the all-round implementation of the convention in Asia, the largest and most populous region, said Zhang.

Rogelio Pfirter, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said at the opening ceremony that it constituted an important part of the convention's principles for each nation to make laws and make convention increasingly popular.

The meeting would help countries learn from each other and facilitate implementing the convention, Pfirter added.

At the three-day meeting which was co-sponsored by the Chinese government and the OPCW, the delegates will discuss such issues as on how to implement legislation, improve declaration, share experience on accepting inspection, importing and exporting management of chemicals and carrying out international cooperation.

Source: Xinhua