On this day, 28 years ago, on April 25, 1997 (March 19, 1997, the lunar calendar), China submitted its instrument of ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention to the United Nations. On the afternoon of April 25, 1997, China officially submitted to the United Nations at United Nations Headquarters the legal document for the ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, thus making China the 78th country to submit its instrument of ratification to the United Nations and the original party to the Convention. my country signed the Convention on January 13, 1993 by Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen as one of the first signatories in Paris. In accordance with the decision of the 23rd Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress, President Jiang Zemin signed and ratified the Convention on April 7, 1997. After submitting its instrument of ratification on April 25, 1997, China completed all legal procedures for joining the Convention. This important convention will formally enter into force on April 29. While formally ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention, the China government issued a five-point statement: 1. China has always advocated the comprehensive prohibition and thorough destruction of chemical weapons. China supports the purposes, goals and principles of the Chemical Weapons Convention. 2. China calls on countries with chemical weapons arsenals to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention as soon as possible to facilitate the early realization of the purpose and objectives of the Chemical Weapons Convention. 3. The purposes, objectives and principles of the Chemical Weapons Convention should be strictly observed. The provisions on challenge inspections must not be abused and must not harm the national security interests of a State party that are not related to chemical weapons. China firmly opposes any abuse of verification regulations and endangering China's sovereignty and security. 4. Countries that abandon chemical weapons in foreign countries should earnestly fulfill the relevant provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, assume the obligation to destroy these chemical weapons, and completely destroy chemical weapons abandoned on the territory of other countries as soon as possible. 5. The Chemical Weapons Convention should indeed play a role in promoting international trade, scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation in the chemical field for peaceful purposes. The Chemical Weapons Convention should become an effective legal basis for regulating trade, international cooperation and exchanges among states parties in the chemical field.