China is actively committed to strengthening global biosafety governance

The 2019 Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons opened at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland on the 3rd. China's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Disarmament Li Song said at the meeting that China is actively committed to strengthening global biosafety governance, continuously advancing the modernization of national governance systems and governance capabilities, steadily advancing the national biosafety legislative process, and safeguarding good governance with good laws in the field of biosafety .

    Li Song said that China actively implements the concept of a community with a shared future for biosafety and strives to provide public goods to the international community in areas such as the management of biosafety laboratories. At the same time, China is committed to strengthening the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons, and has proposed two pragmatic initiatives to develop a "model for the conduct of biological scientists" and establish a "biological non-proliferation export control and international cooperation mechanism" under the Convention.

    Li Song also expounded China's views and propositions on global biosafety. He pointed out that the current status of biosafety in global security governance is becoming increasingly prominent. While enjoying the benefits of biotechnology development, countries are also facing severe challenges such as misuse and abuse of biotechnology, weaponization of biotechnology, and bioterrorism. The international community should consider and discuss in depth the issues of biotechnology development, international cooperation and assistance, strengthen the authority and effectiveness of the Biological Weapons Convention, promote positive results in the review process of the Convention, and jointly address this hope and danger. Coexisting profound changes.

    The Biological Weapons Convention was reached in 1972 and entered into force in 1975. It currently has 183 parties. The Convention is not only the first international treaty to completely ban a whole class of weapons (ie, biological weapons), but also grants contracting states the right to peaceful use of biotechnology.