Video remarks by the Director-General of the OPCW on the occasion of the 500th Article VI inspection in China
Ceremony at Jiangsu Province, 1 November 2024
Distinguished friends,
It is my honour to address you today at the marking of the 500th, Article VI, industry inspections in China.
The industry verification regime is the cornerstone, of our collective efforts, to prevent re-emergence of chemical weapons.
Since the first industry inspection in China, following entry into force of the Convention in 1997, the Secretariat has always relied on the outstanding cooperation from the Chinese National Authority.
Since that first inspection, more than 10% of all industry inspections in the world, have taken place in China.
This is a testament, to the growth of the Chinese national chemical industry, which now accounts, for almost half of all global chemical industrial production.
The significant amount of inspections carried out by the OPCW in China, is also the evidence, of the tremendous contribution that China has been making to the global security, through ensuring that the chemistry is used only in a responsible manner.
Last September, I visited China, and had meetings with high-level officials, including with the Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Mr Jin Zhuanglong.
Minister Jin and I, had a very fruitful discussion, and exchanged views on how to ensure an efficient industry verification regime, in order to prevent the re-emergence of chemical weapons.
During my stay in China, I also visited the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, and exchanged views, with top chemical companies.
For 2024, we are on track to complete the number of planned industry inspections, which constitutes a significant part of all Article VI inspections for this year.
I wish to underline, that the recent mechanisms that China has introduced, in the implementation of the annual inspection plans, including accepting cross-provincial sequential inspections, is optimising the use of Secretariat resources, and is contributing to more efficient inspections.
Additionally, China is a valued partner for the Secretariat, providing opinions and analysis of technical issues, in industry consultations.
I wish to seize this opportunity to thank China’s National Authority for such an active engagement, in the past 27 years, that demonstrates China’s commitment to peace in the world, through the Chemical Weapons Convention.
I strongly commend these efforts, and look forward to continue working together.
Thank you for your attention.
