China, US vow to boost nuclear security cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping (1st R) meets with his US counterpart Barack Obama (1st L) on the sidelines of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC, the United States, March 31, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

WASHINGTON - China and the United States on Thursday reaffirmed their joint commitment to global nuclear security and pledged to continue cooperation in this area beyond the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) process.

In a joint statement released as Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama met on the sidelines of the fourth NSS, the two countries declared their "commitment to working together to foster a peaceful and stable international environment by reducing the threat of nuclear terrorism and striving for a more inclusive, coordinated, sustainable and robust global nuclear security architecture for the common benefit and security of all."

Nuclear security cooperation has become a bright spot in the building of a new type of major-country relations between the world's largest developing and developed countries.

In February, the two sides carried out the inaugural round of bilateral discussions on nuclear security in Stockholm, Sweden.

"We plan to continue this dialogue on an annual basis, so as to intensify our cooperation to prevent nuclear terrorism and continue advancing Nuclear Security Summit goals," said the joint statement.

In a more recent example, a nuclear security center of excellence (COE) jointly financed and built by the Chinese and US governments was inaugurated in suburban Beijing on March 18. It is the largest, best equipped and most advanced facility of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.

The COE, said the statement, "is a world-class venue to meet China's domestic nuclear security training requirements, as well as a forum for bilateral and regional best practice exchanges, and a venue for demonstrating advanced technologies related to nuclear security."

The two countries pledged continued engagement on nuclear security training and best practices so as to maximize the use and effectiveness of the COE, and China vowed to sponsor training programs at the site for regional partners and other international participants to further promote global nuclear security awareness and engagement.