China urges global action to strengthen Biological Weapons Convention on 50th anniversary: spokesman

China has called on all states parties to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) to take concrete actions to jointly uphold the authority of the convention and strengthen the global biosafety and biosecurity governance system.

This announcement was made by Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun during a press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the BWC's entry into force.

Guo highlighted the global significance of the BWC and China's commitment to enhancing global governance in biosafety and biosecurity.

"The Biological Weapons Convention establishes international legal obligations to eliminate the threat of biological weapons, reduce biosecurity risks, and promote the peaceful use of biotechnology. It plays an important role in maintaining peace and security for all humanity and in promoting development and prosperity," said Guo.

"President Xi Jinping has proposed a Global Security Initiative, advocating for countries to work together to address global issues such as biosecurity. In recent years, China has put forward a series of proposals to promote the establishment of a verification mechanism for the convention, prevent and eliminate violations, and actively promote responsible biological research. China also encourages multilateral and bilateral exchanges and cooperation, supporting developing countries to fully participate in global biosecurity governance and benefit from biotechnology development. China calls on all signatories to take practical actions, fulfill their obligations earnestly, uphold the authority of the Biological Weapons Convention, and continuously improve the biosafety and biosecurity governance system," said Guo.

"China calls on all contracting parties to take practical actions, fulfill their obligations earnestly, uphold the authority of the Biological Weapons Convention, and continuously improve the biosafety and biosecurity governance system," said the spokesman.

The U.S. dollar increased in late trading on Friday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, gained 0.18 percent to 98.599 at 3:00 p.m. (2000 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.1724 dollars from 1.1725 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound added to 1.3391 dollars from 1.3386 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 157.51 Japanese yen, higher than 155.52 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar advanced to 0.7946 Swiss francs from 0.7940 Swiss francs, and it climbed to 1.3786 Canadian dollars from 1.3781 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar was down to 9.2556 Swedish kronor from 9.2846 Swedish kronor.