Russia and China to strive for control over weapons and disarmament

The Russian and Chinese leaders attach great significance to cooperation between the two countries in strategic stability to consolidate international security, global and regional stability. To attain the set goals they will be cooperating within the framework of bilateral relations and of international forums to work out and adopt effective measures to exercise control over weapons and disarmament, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means of their transportation. This is laid down in the Joint Declaration Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Chairman Jiang Zemin signed in Beijing on Monday.

The document provides for the two countries making additional efforts to promote the joint initiative to reach an international agreement on the prevention of weapons deployment in space.

The two countries will be further cooperating to find solutions to missile proliferation issues. Russia and China think it necessary to discuss and promote multilateral negotiations in order to work out a legally binding agreement on the global regime of missile non-proliferation. The UN and other multilateral organisations must play an important role in the process. The declaration stresses that Moscow and Beijing will continue bilateral dialogue on export control in the sphere of non-proliferation.

The leaders of the two countries also hailed "the establishment of zones free from nuclear weapons in certain Asian regions given that such zones take into account interests and concerns of all countries."