In the picture H.E. Mr. Xu Hong, Ambassador of China to the Kingdom of The Netherlands and Permanent Representative of China to the OPCW, and H.E. Mr. Fernando Arias, Director General OPCW.
The Hague, Netherlands — 11 November 2019 — The Government of China has contributed USD 30,000 to a special Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Trust Fund to support the project to upgrade the current OPCW Laboratory and Equipment Store. This project will result in the construction of a new facility, the OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology (“ChemTech Centre”).
The contribution was formalised during a ceremony at OPCW Headquarters between OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and the Permanent Representative of China to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Xu Hong.
Ambassador Xu remarked: “The OPCW is an important international disarmament organisation. China highly appreciates its active role played in the destruction of chemical weapons, preventing their re-emergence as well as promoting international cooperation for the development of chemical industry. China maintains a long-term and close cooperation with the Organisation. The voluntary contribution by the Chinese Government to the ChemTech Centre once again demonstrates the importance China attaches to the Organisation and China’s support for its work.
The ChemTech Centre is a valuable resource for the OPCW and its States Parties. It will further enhance the Organisation’s verification capabilities, and enable it to increase capacity building activities for States Parties. China wishes, with the contributions from States Parties, the timely and smooth completion of the ChemTech Centre”.
Director-General Arias expressed his gratitude to the Government of China for its support and appealed to all OPCW States Parties in a position to make voluntary contributions to do so. He further emphasised the important role the new ChemTech Centre will play in strengthening the OPCW’s ability to address chemical weapon threats, boost its investigative capability, and enhance capacity building activities. He highlighted that “all contributions, regardless of size, are greatly appreciated”.
So far, twenty-two States Parties and the European Union have contributed or pledged to contribute financially to the project, and a considerable amount has been raised to date.
