China urges stronger arms control cooperation

China on Thursday called for stronger multilateral arms control efforts and greater international cooperation on the peaceful use of technology, as global military spending reached a record high last year.

Sun Xiaobo, director-general of the Department of Arms Control of China's Foreign Ministry, said the global security situation faces "complex and severe challenges", and called for greater support for the international system centered on the United Nations.

Sun made the remarks during the general debate of the First Committee of the 81st session of UN General Assembly, which deals with disarmament and international security.

Sun said the United States continues to pursue "absolute strategic superiority" through nuclear-sharing arrangements and extended deterrence, which China believes affect global and regional strategic stability.

Sun also reaffirmed China's support for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, calling it "the cornerstone of the international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime".

"The international consensus against nuclear testing, as embodied in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, must not be challenged," he said.

He added that the authority and effectiveness of multilateral arms control mechanisms, including the Conference on Disarmament and the First Committee, "must be strengthened, not weakened".

Speaking at the opening of the committee's general debate on Tuesday, UN General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman said nuclear-armed states spent nearly $17 billion more on their arsenals in 2025 than a year earlier, an increase of almost 20 percent.

Global military expenditure approached $3 trillion in 2025, marking 11 consecutive years of growth, he said.

"This is the amount, 10 times over, that it would take to fully vaccinate every child in the world. Seven times over what it would cost to close the gender equality gap in developing countries. And 31 times what it would take to end global hunger by 2030," Rahman said.

Turning to military applications of artificial intelligence, Sun noted four principles for its development and governance: human control, responsible use, differentiated regulation and inclusive consultation.

"Humans must remain the ultimate responsible actors, and relevant weapons systems must remain under human control," he said.

Sun said countries should not use AI to seek "absolute military superiority" and called for avoiding an AI arms race.

He also supported a role for the UN in developing international governance frameworks, while calling for a balance between security regulation, technological development and peaceful applications.

On nuclear non-proliferation in East Asia, Sun pointed to concerns about remarks by a senior Japanese official suggesting that the possibility of acquiring nuclear weapons should be discussed without restrictions.

He called on Japan to reflect on its wartime history and fulfill its international legal obligations on nuclear non-proliferation.

Sun said China would again submit a draft resolution on promoting international cooperation on peaceful uses of science and technology in the context of international security to the General Assembly this year.

"The peaceful use of science and technology is an inalienable right of all countries under international law," he said, adding that such cooperation is important for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sun said China would continue to support multilateral arms control efforts through the UN and work with other countries on international security cooperation.