Preface

Peace and development are eternal themes of human society. Peace needs to be fought for and be upheld.

Arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation embody humanity's aspiration to turn swords into plowshares and lay down their weapons. They represent important missions of mitigating the risk of war, addressing the security deficit, and promoting global peace. Together, these efforts are vital to global strategic security and the shared wellbeing of humanity, and have gradually become a common expectation of the international community.

The Chinese nation has always cherished peace and harmony among nations, upheld justice, and opposed abuse of the weak by the strong and excessive use of force. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, it has pursued a path of peaceful development and a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, and firmly opposed all forms of hegemony, aggression, expansion, and arms race. After the restoration of its lawful seat in the United Nations (UN) in 1971, China has actively participated in multilateral arms control and made unremitting efforts to safeguard international peace and security.

In the new era, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, China is committed to advancing Chinese modernization, puts into action the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative, and Global Governance Initiative, and works to build a community with a shared future for humanity in response to the shared aspirations of the international community. It plays a constructive role in international arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation, actively offers its initiatives and solutions, and is committed to improving the international security environment, increasing international security cooperation, addressing global security challenges, and strengthening global security governance. China has been and will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order.

The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. It is also the 80th anniversary of the founding of the UN. Peace remains fragile while wars persist, regional conflicts and turmoil are becoming more frequent, and the international arms race continues to escalate. Today, humanity again has to choose between peace and war, dialogue and confrontation, win-win cooperation and zero-sum game. It once again finds itself at a historic crossroads. As such, there is an urgent need to reinvigorate multilateral arms control and consolidate the foundation for peaceful development.

The Chinese government is publishing this white paper to comprehensively present China's policies and practices on arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation, and its position on security governance in emerging fields such as outer space, cyberspace, and artificial intelligence (AI), to restate its commitment to safeguarding world peace and security, and to call on countries around the world to work together for international arms control.