By Wu Jinhuai

吴金淮

Ambassador Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, deposited China's Instrument of Accession to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on July 6, 2020. As per the provision of the treaty, the treaty will enter into force for China 90 days after the deposit of the Instrument of Accession.

7月6日，中国常驻联合国代表张军向联合国秘书长古特雷斯交存中国关于《武器贸易条约》的加入书。按照规定，交存之日起90天后该条约对中国开始生效。

Wang Yi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, announced at the UN Assembly last September that China had commenced the procedures for joining the ATT. Within less than a year, China has completed all domestic legal procedures for the accession with high efficiency, which fully demonstrates its resolve and sincerity for supporting multilateralism, maintaining international arms control regime, and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

去年9月，中国国务委员兼外交部长王毅在联合国大会上宣布，中方已启动加入《武器贸易条约》进程。不到一年时间，中国就以高效的行动完成了入约的国内法律程序，充分体现了中国支持多边主义、维护国际军控体系、落实构建人类命运共同体理念的决心和诚意。

The ATT is the first international treaty under the UN that regulates the trade of conventional weapons and aims to establish an international system for conventional arms control and suppress and hopefully eradicate illicit arms deal. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has attached great importance to issues caused by the illicit transfer and abuse of conventional weaponry, endorsed the tenet and purposes of the ATT, and supported the adoption of necessary measures to regulate international arms trade and clamp down on illicit arms transfer.

《武器贸易条约》是首个联合国框架下约束常规武器贸易的国际条约，旨在推动国际社会对常规武器管控制度的建设，有效遏制甚至消除常规武器的非法贸易。作为联合国安理会常任理事国，中国一向高度重视常规武器非法转让和滥用引发的各方面问题，支持《武器贸易条约》的宗旨和目标，赞成采取必要措施，规范国际武器贸易行为，打击非法武器转让。

China has a sound domestic foundation for joining the ATT. On the one hand, it has played a consistently constructive role in the international arms control system, actively performed the treaty-bound duties and obligations as a responsible major country, and advocated and led multilateral equity and justice in the world. On the other hand, China has long established a comprehensive and complete national military article management system in the last century, covering laws and regulations, lists of regulated items, and competent organs. This has ensured a normal managerial order of military product export.

中国加入《武器贸易条约》具有完备的国内基础。一方面，中国长期在国际军控体系发挥着积极的建设性作用，以负责任大国姿态积极履行相关条约责任和义务，推动和引领国际多边主义的公平正义；另一方面，中国早在上世纪就已在法律法规、管理清单、主管机构等各个方面，建立起全面、完备的国家军品管理体系和制度，有力地保障了正常的军品出口管理秩序。

China's policies and practices for management of military product export coincide with the tenet and purposes of the ATT. As a country engaged in normal military trade, it has been exercising stringent management of military export, and has established a system of relevant policies and regulations. Arms export policy of China strictly follows three principles: i) conducive to the legitimate self-defense capability of the recipient country; ii) not undermine peace, security and stability of the region concerned and the world as a whole; iii) non-interference in the internal affairs of the recipient country. Moreover, China only exports military articles to sovereign states, not non-state actors, which fully demonstrates China's high sense of responsibility in military article export.

中国的军品出口管理政策和实践与《武器贸易条约》的宗旨和目标基本一致。作为从事正常军品贸易的国家，中国一向严格管理军品出口，并已建立相当完善的军品出口管制政策法规体系。中国军品出口严格遵循三项原则，即：有助于接受国正当防卫能力；不损害有关地区和世界和平、安全与稳定；不干涉接受国内政。此外，中方仅向主权国家出口军品，不向非国家行为体出口军品，充分体现了中方对军品出口的高度负责任态度。

The current international arms control and non-proliferation system is facing a rising challenge. China’s accession to the ATT will improve the treaty’s executive ability in international cooperation and aid, facilitate the normal operation of multilateral mechanisms on conventional arms control, and enhance the governing efficiency of the global arms control system.

现有的国际军控和防扩散体系正面临日益严峻的挑战，中国的加入将进一步增强《武器贸易条约》在国际合作和国际援助领域的执行能力，推动国际常规武器军控领域多边机制的正常运行，提高国际军控体系的治理效能。

The international situation is going through profound and complex changes, with the vacuum and chaos of governance worsening day by day. In particular, the US administration, enforcing its unilateralism, has retreated from a series of international treaties and organizations in recent years, including the Paris Agreement on climate change, UNESCO, and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, etc. Washington signed the ATT in 2013, but the Trump administration announced to quit the treaty on April 26, 2019, drawing extensive attention in the international community. US moves defying international rules and shirking international responsibilities are in no way conducive to effectively handling and resolving global issues. Still worse, they have dealt a serious blow to the global governance system and multilateral cooperation.

当前，国际格局正在经历着深刻复杂的变化，治理真空和治理乱象日趋严峻。尤其是美国政府近年来大肆奉行单边主义，先后退出了气候变化《巴黎协定》、联合国教科文组织、《中导条约》等多个国际组织和条约。就《武器贸易条约》而言，美国曾于2013年签署《武器贸易条约》，但特朗普政府于2019年4月26日宣布退出签署，引发国际社会的广泛关注。美国这种无视国际规则、推卸国际责任的举动不仅不利于有效应对和解决全球性问题，而且给全球治理体系和多边合作机制带来了严重的冲击。

It is against such a background that China joined the ATT, a concrete step to help build a regulated and reasonable arms trade order that is bound to exert positive effects on enhancing the treaty’s universality and validity. This significant step manifests China’s important role as a stabilizer of the international system and order, as well as its firm resolve to support multilateral arms control mechanisms and safeguard international and regional peace and stability.

在此背景下，中国加入《武器贸易条约》，以实际行动推动构建规范合理的武器贸易秩序，将对进一步提升该条约的普遍性和有效性产生积极影响。这一重大举措，彰显了中国作为国际体系和国际秩序的“稳定器”的重要作用，体现了中国坚定支持多边军控机制、维护国际和地区和平稳定的决心。

(The author is Director of the Non-proliferation and Strategic Trade Control, China Arms Control and Disarmament Association)

（作者系中国军控与裁军协会防扩散与战略贸易管控主任）