Mr. President, 

First of all, please allow me, on behalf of the Chinese delegation, to extend warm congratulations on your election to the presidency of the current General Assembly. I am convinced that your rich experience and diplomatic talent will lead this conference to a full success. At the meanwhile, I'd like to take this opportunity to present compliments to the Director General Dr. Albaradi and delegations of all Member States, and our warm welcome to delegations of new Members, namely, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the Republic of Botswana.

Mr. President,

This General Assembly, the first of its kind held in the new century, is of special significance. It is one of the most important missions of this Assembly to review and sum up the Agency's work and outline the future prospect of the Agency at this new starting point of history. The Agency, as the only inter-governmental organization engaged in the nuclear field, has made universally acknowledged achievements on nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful application of nuclear energy for the past more than 40 years. It has won high compliments and attention from the international community. The history of the development of the Agency shows that only by faithfully adhering to the principles and philosophy of the Statute and maintaining the balance between its two major functions, can the Agency gain vitality and perform its duties in a healthy manner. The Agency, therefore, shall continue its work along the direction set by the Statute and make new contributions to the peaceful application of nuclear energy for the welfare of the mankind in the new century.

The Agency achieved positive advancement in various fields in the past year. Where the nuclear power is concerned, the Agency actively participated in the activities of the ninth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-9) and the sixth session of the signatory parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-6), and played an important role in making scientific appraisal and objective popularization on the role of nuclear energy in the sustainable development of the whole world. Where the nuclear safety is concerned, the Agency has continued to assist the Member States to establish and improve infrastructure facilities of nuclear safety, promoted the international cooperation on the safety of nuclear waste and radiation sources and security of radioactive materials, and facilitated the advancement of nuclear safety level of the whole world. Where the nuclear technology application and cooperation are concerned, the Agency has responded to the requirements the Member States and popularized the application of nuclear energy in agriculture, the exploration and management of water resources, mankind’s health and environmental protection, bringing distinct social and economic results in the Member States. The “Nuclear Technology Review”, initiated and edited by the Agency, has gained compliments from Member States. Where the safeguards is concerned, the Agency has devoted great efforts and made significant progress in developing traditional safeguards system and the “Integrated Safeguards” combined with strengthened safeguards measures while performing its duties set by NPT and safeguards verification. All these measures are significant to strengthening the International Nonproliferation Mechanism.

All the above achievements is the result of the joint efforts of the Member States and the Secretariat. The Chinese delegation speaks highly of the important contribution of Director General Dr. Albaradi. The Board of Governors, considering his outstanding talents in leading the work of the Secretariat, has decided to reappoint* Dr. Albaradi as the Director General of the Agency. The Chinese Government supports the General Assembly in ratifying this decision.

Mr. President,

Now, I would like to present the Chinese Delegation's views on the importance of the nuclear energy to the world's sustainable development and the role of the Agency.

1. the Due Position of Nuclear Energy in the Sustainable Development

As is known to all, the ecological environment of the “Global Village” is facing unprecedented challenges. The excessive discharge of CO2 and other greenhouse gases ever since the industrial revolution has caused continuous growth of temperature of the globe, heavily threatening the environment the mankind lives in. The developed countries, discharged about two thirds of the total greenhouse gases, bear unshirkable responsibility to it both in history and at present, while the developing countries, low in both per capita and total volume of discharge, are faced with the task of revitalizing economy and eliminating poverty to achieve sustainable development. Therefore, the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" and the "Kyodo Protocol" specified "common but differentiated responsibilities" for developed countries and developing countries and formulated workable measures like Joint Implementation (JI), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Emission Trade (ET), which serve as the legal foundation and cooperation mechanism for all countries to face the challenge.

The demand on energy is increasing with the development of the world's economy, and we have to continue the application of traditional energy like coal, petroleum, gas, water and nuclear energy before any new non-pollution energy is developed by the scientists. Optimized energy structure policies shall be adopted to cut down the environmental pollution and relieve the climate change. Advanced technologies shall be applied to improve the utilization factor of coal, petroleum and other fossil fuels on the one hand, and the portion of clean energy shall be increased on the other hand. More than 40 years of experience has fully proved that nuclear energy is clean, safe and economical. Nuclear power accounts for one sixth of the world's total power generation at present and has done great contribution to cutting down the discharge of greenhouse gases. China, with many other countries, approves of including nuclear energy into CDM. We hope that the Agency will devote more efforts to objectively popularize the significance of nuclear energy to the reduction of environmental pollution and climate changes for people's recognition of its important role in the sustainable development.

China, the largest developing country in the world, fully endorses the efforts of the whole world to relieve the climate change. Given its own national situation, the Chinese Government put forward the guideline of "developing nuclear power appropriately" in its tenth five-year plan of national economic development promulgated recently. China has 8 nuclear power units under construction so far with a total installed capacity of 6600MW. And a few more nuclear power plants are under planning or argumentation. At the meanwhile, we pay great importance to developing and employing advanced technologies to continuously increase the utilization factors of traditional fossil fuels. We are willing to join hands with other countries to make our due contribution to protect the "Global Village" of the mankind.

2. Roles of the Agency in the Exploitation of nuclear energy

There are still doubts on the utilization of nuclear energy which focuses on issues like nuclear proliferation, nuclear safety and the economic competition of nuclear energy. The proper understanding and settlement of these issues constitute the key of the Agency's work at present and in the future.

The Agency shall play a coordinating role in developing new technology of nuclear energy. With more than 40 years of operating experience and advancement of science and technology, the research and development of the new-generation reactor and fuel cycle with inherent safety, non-proliferation, and economic competitiveness has been put on the schedule. Upon the request of the Member States, the Agency initiated the "International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactor and Fuel Cycles". China fully supports this program and has sent experts to the Agency for this purpose. The Chinese Delegation would like to put forward the following suggestions to improve the effectiveness of this program:

1.The Agency, the only inter-governmental organization in nuclear field, should devote more efforts in coordinating and encouraging more countries with R&D capability to participate in this program.

2.The Agency should establish close relations with other cooperation mechanism in this field (the Fourth Generation International Forum, for instance) to exchange and share information.

3.Consideration should be given to the practical requirements of the developing countries intending to develop nuclear power in the process of the program so that they could benefit from the research achievements.

4.Given its importance and the uncertainty of the extra-budgetary funds, the program should be included in the regular budget to ensure adequate funds it needs.

The Agency shall serve as the center of international cooperation on nuclear safety. Governments of related countries shall bear the primary responsibility for nuclear safety, and the Agency shall serve as the center of international cooperation in this field which is indispensable. The Agency, with the support of the Member States, has formulated many international legal documents including the *Convention on Early Reporting of Nuclear Accident, the Convention on Assistance for Nuclear Accidents or Emergency Radiation, the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, and a series of nuclear safety criteria. These documents, criteria, reports of relevant countries and peer review mechanism have played an important role to promote the nuclear safety level of the world. The Agency did a lot of work in helping the Member States improve their nuclear safety infrastructure and relevant regulations, and in eliminating hidden safety perils. The Chinese Delegation holds that all these efforts, including the Training Course for Senior Management Personnel of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant -- a TC program held in China, prove to be effective and commendable. The Chinese Delegation wish the Agency would continue its efforts in this field and play its role as the center of international cooperation in nuclear safety to provide more practical assistance to the developing countries.

The Agency's safeguards is an effective shield against nuclear proliferation. One of the statutory missions of the Agency is to verify the nuclear activities of relevant countries according to NPT and Safeguards Agreement to ensure those activities are only for peaceful purposes. More than 40 years of practice proved the effectiveness of the Agency's safeguards. The "93+2 Initiative" further strengthened the Agency's safeguards system. The Secretariat is working on the "Integrated Safeguards Program" combining the traditional safeguards and the strengthened safeguards measures as its priority, which has the support of the Chinese Delegation. We are looking forward to a more reliable and efficient safeguards system. The Chinese Delegation expects a timely report by the Secretariat to the Board and General Assembly on the progress of the program, and holds that principle issues shall be subject to the approval of the Board and the General Assembly. We are justifiably convinced that the Agency has adequate legal authorization and technological means to find out and deter nuclear proliferation in time.

Mr. President,

The mankind is facing new opportunities and challenges in the new century. The scientist pioneers of the past century lit the torch for nuclear energy and we shall keep the torch raging for the peace and development of mankind in the new century. The Chinese Delegation will, as always, unswervingly support the Agency in its work and join hands with all Member States and the Secretariat to make efforts for a better world for the mankind.

Thank you, Mr. President.