China has formally joined the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
At a news conference in Beijing, ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China had deposited its instrument of accession and completed “all legal procedures to join this treaty,” daily Global Times reported.
THE TREATY WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE FOR CHINA AFTER 90 DAYS
Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the UN, submitted the document to UN chief Antonio Guterres.
In a statement, the Chinese diplomat said Beijing “attaches high importance to the problems caused by illicit transfer and abuse of conventional arms.” “China supports the purposes and goals of the treaty and agrees on taking necessary measures to regulate international arms trade and combat illicit arms transfer,” he said in the statement quoted by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
China has become the 107th country to join the treaty, which was approved by the UN in April 2013 and came into force in December 2014.
The pact aims to “establish the highest possible common international standards for regulating … the international trade in conventional arms … [and] prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms.”
The US is not a party to the treaty, having backtracked after initially signing the pact in 2013.