Implement CWC for Achivements in Chemistry Only to Benefit Human Beings-Celebrating the First OPCW Day
（April 28,2016）
April 29 of 2016 is the first“OPCW Day”. The 20th Session of the Conference of the States Parties of the OPCW held on November 30 to December 4,2015 made a decision that since 2016, April 29, which is the commencement date of the Chemical Weapons Convention（CWC）in 1997, will be the annually international day celebrating the establishment of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons（OPCW）, or shortly known as the“OPCW Day”.
Throughout the history, the production and use of chemicals keeppace with the needs of human life, production and even wars. The first sulfuric acid plant was established 270 years ago, and the chemicals came to the stage of history. The early 20th century to the sixties and seventies after WWII witnessed the great development of the chemical industry, which became an important pillar of modern industry. However, chemicals are a double-edged sword, while bring benefits to humans, they also bring disasters and threats to our safety and survival. 101 years ago, chlorine was used as chemical weapon on the European battleground, which kicked off the modern chemical warfare.Thereafter, chemical weapons（CWs）had been massively used in the two world wars, causing heavy casualties. It is known that Japanese aggressor troops used chemical weapons in 19 provinces, cities or autonomous regions in China, killing and injuring 200,000 Chinese people. Pain and terror are the dark memories left to people of the world by chemical weapons.
The Chemical Weapons Convention that came into effect in 1997 is the first international disarmament treaty comprehensively prohibiting and completely destroying an entire class of weapons of mass destruction（WMDs）with stringent verification mechanisms. The Convention aims to fundamentally eliminating the threats posed by an entire class of WMDs to peace and safety of people worldwide, making the use of CWs a globaln ban, and building consensus among the international society particularly the science and industry communities that chemical researches and industry can only be developed for the benefits of humans.
As a result of the collective endeavor by the international society, the OPCW has achieved remarkable results in the past 19 years since the CWC entered into force. It won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 and the universality of the CWC has improved significantly. The number of States Parties has totaled up to 192, representing 98% of world population and 99% of chemical industries worldwide; great progress has been made towards the core objective of the destruction of chemical weapons as the OPCW has supervised the destruction of 91.6% of stockpiled chemical weapons; non-proliferation assistance and international cooperation have been increasingly enhanced;3,000 field inspections at protection and chemical industry facilities of the States Parties have been performed by OPCW to prevent the emerging of new chemical weapons and strengthen the mutual trust among States Parties.
As a victim state of chemical weapons and an original State Party of the CWC, China has consistently stood for the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of chemical weapons, earnestly fulfilled the obligations under the CWC, and made outstanding contributions to the realization of its purposes and objectives.
—Established and improved laws and regulations on implementation as well as a multilayered implementation working system. A series of implementation laws and regulations were published, such as Management Regulations for Controlled Chemicals and its detailed implementation rules. The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China makes behaviors endangering public safety including illegal production, transportation and storage of toxic substances or poisoning constitute a crime that should be punished gravely. A two-layer implementation working system at the central and local levels has been set up and in some areas with developed chemical industries, implementation organizations at the county and municipal levels have also been established, thereby formulating a nationwide effective implementation working system and mechanism. A dedicated team of implementation officers with high sense of responsibility and professional qualities has been trained.
—Strictly fulfilled the CWC obligations of declaration and receiving onsite inspection. As the number of declared and verifiable industrial facilities in China accounts for about a quarter of the total of all States Parties, the task of implementation is arduous. Yet, in the past 19 years, Chinese implementation authorities at all levels and the chemical industry overcame difficulties, having submitted 37 declarations to OPCW on time and successfully received over 420 various inspections by OPCW. The inspection results all manifest that China has fulfilled CWC obligations rigorously.
—Assisted and supervised the destruction of Chemical Weapons Abandoned by Japan. Japan used a mass of chemical weapons during its invasion war against China and abandoned them on the territory of China after its defeat. It is a grave crime committed by Japanese militarism. According to the Chemical Weapons Convention, complete destruction of JACW is a compelling responsibility and obligation of the Japanese government. In the past 19 years, China, with practical and constructive attitudes, has provided all necessary cooperation to assist the Japanese government in disposal of JACW and actively coordinated with and supported the OPCW in verification and supervision of JACW disposal.
—Comprehensively enhanced the management of controlled chemicals. In order to protect thesecurity of people's lives and properties, guarantee the implementation of the Convention, as well as prevent the proliferation of the controlled chemicals, their production technologies and dedicated devices, or their use for the prohibited purposes in the CWC, China conducts strict administrative licensing management on controlled chemicals in terms of facility construction, production, operation, usage, import and export. The implementation authorities at all levels strengthened in the pre-inspection and postinspection, as well as education, training, guidance and service for producers, operators and users of controlled chemicals. They also proactively gave into play the role of associations and other industrial organizations to guide the industry for self-discipline, and enable businesses to increase their implementation consciousness, basic management and safety and security levels.
—Carried out international implementation assistance and cooperation in an overall way. China, as a member state of the OPCW Executive Council, fully supports the work of OPCW and endeavors to promote the implementation of CWC articles on international cooperation and protection assistance. In the past 19 years, the Chinese government has been playing an increasingly important role in OPCW activities and international implementation af fairs. It has organized 9 international trainings, seminars and regional meetings jointly with OPCW, received the visits to China by senior OPCW delegations for 5 times, organized 5 sessions of workshops on implementation for participants from African countries, and provided protection equipment and other implementation assistance to States Parties for several times. It has played an increasingly important role in the OPCW and international performance.
Looking back on the past, great achievements have been made on CWC implementation; and looking into the future, there's still a rough road to go to realize the goal of achievements in chemistry for benefitting human beings only. Currently, the world is going through unprecedented changes. The human society is facing new topics of economic development and technological evolution on one hand, and new challenges of limited environmental resources and international instability on the other. The core objectives of CWC have not been achieved-although the Convention is almost universal, there are still 4 countries not signing it; although it has been declared that the global destruction of stockpiled CWs is drawing to a close, JACW still harm to Chinese people and the environment seriously, and its destruction progress is far behind the plan, therefore it's urgent to safely and complete finish JACW destruction;as new CW attacks and the risk of CWs being used by terrorism still exist, a world free of chemical weapons can be expected but not yet around the corner. For this reason, enabling the international society to be further aware of the significance of prohibition of CWs and other WMDs, further enhancing the CWC and other international multilateral arms control and disarmament systems are very important to safeguard world peace, safety and stability. This is also the purpose to establish the annual international day for the foundation of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
As a country of large chemical industry, China faces multiple challenges in implementation: heavy tasks in accepting on-site inspection by the OPCW;severe non-proliferation situation; numerous controlled chemicals enterprises and low industrial concentration; extensive management and low innovation capability in some businesses; weak implementation consciousness andnoncomplying behaviors in some businesses; and weak supervision by some local authorities. In face of the new implementation situations, the implementation front nationwide should facilitate the progress of implementation work, maintain the image of China as a responsible country, and make new contributions to world peace and development by taking the spirits of the 18th CPC National Congress, the third, fourth and fifth plenary sessions of the 18th CPC Central Committee as the guidance, and developing high sense of political responsibility and spirits of reform and innovation.
Pay high attention to and earnestly perform the implementation responsibility. The implementation work matters a lot to international peace and stability, the political and diplomatic patterns of China, as well as the lives and properties of people. Therefore, we should fully recognize the importance and urgency of implementation, and further enhance the organization and leadership of work in this aspect to be highly responsible for the interests of the country and people. All relevant departments and units should clearlyshare the responsibilities and fulfill duties to make solid progress in various aspects of implementation.
Fulfill CWC obligations with practical actions. Submitting declarations on time and accepting inspections are the basic obligations of the States Parties. We should thoroughly learn and comprehensively master the rules and requirements of OPCW on declaration, and submit various declarations with good qualities on time according to the facts. Accepting inspection is an ex amination of the implementation work. We should improve the coordination and cooperation among different relevant departments, give full play to the grassroots authorities such as those at the county and municipal levels, develop plans seriously, and make solid preparations to ensure successes in every inspection.
Raise vigilance and reinforce the prevention and monitoring of proliferation. China is a big country interms of chemical production and trade. Controlled chemicals and their technical equipment in China have become a major purchase target of some countries and organizations. All relevant departments should raise vigilance, further enhnce supervision on import/export of controlled chemicals and domestic operation activities, expose the public to relevant policies, laws and regulations to producers and operators of S2 and S3 controlled chemicals and to chemical colleges, universities and research institutions, as well as prevent and control the risk of proliferation.
Enforce laws strictly and enhance the management of controlled chemicals. Management of controlled chemicals is a priority of the implementation work. We should accelerate the revision and improvement of the Rules of Management Regulations for Controlled Chemicals and other regulations on implementation; intensify exposure of laws and regulations and service training to relevant parties; strengthen the management of facility construction, production, operation and usage of controlled chemicals, and investigate and punish illegal activities; and put into practice the major decisions of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on promoting reform of administrative review and approval systems, develop new and enhance measures of in the course and post-event supervision, and better the development of government information release and corporate credit system building.
Adhere to open up and facilitate international cooperation. We should ac tively engage in the international affairs for the of prohibition of chemical weapons, and make more cooperation with OPCW and other States Parties. We should expand the scope of international cooperation and intensify international communication and cooperation on chemical technology innovation, safety and security. We should give full play to the role of the international implementation platform, support the Belt and Road initiative and other national strategies, and offer help to businesses in terms of chemical technologies and industrial development experience sharing, international marketing, as well as taking the initiative in economic restructuring and globalization.
Lay a solid foundation and strengthen the building of implementation systems. The implementation working system and the officer team are the foundation and guarantee for good implementation. In face of new situations and missions, the central and local implementation authorities, relevant government departments, industrial associations and companies should make better coordination and mutual support to make sure the whole system operate effectively. Education and training should be strengthened to improve the overall quality of the implementation staff. The industry should be self-disciplined, enhance communication, and facilitate improvement in technologies and management. The building of a clean and honest administration and the work style development should be further intensified to improve the duty execution and service capabilities of the administration and officers.
It's the common will of the world people to completely prohibit and thoroughly destroy chemical weapons, which is an irreversible historical trend and a strong guarantee for the healthy sustainable development of the chemical industry. CWC implementation is a sacred mission with bright outlook. As the implementation authority in China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will make better coordination and cooperation with relevant imple mentation departments, continue fully promoting the overall and effective application of CWC in China and the healthy development of the chemical industry, and make constant efforts towards the building of a world free of chemical weapons and enable the achievements in chemistry to benefit human beings only.