My delegation thanks DG Amano for his intro and associates itself with the statement by Iranian ambassador on behalf of G-77 and China on this item.

In my delegation's view, the agency carried out its work vigorously and achieved new results in fulfilling its statutory mandates in response to member state needs. To meet the needs of an increasing number of countries for economic development, poverty reduction and ensuring energy security, the agency intensified assistance to member states, pushed international cooperation among member states, and in particular did large amounts of work helping newcomers  in energy assessment, human resource development for the nuclear industry, uranium resource exploitation, capacity building in nuclear safety and security, among others. Meanwhile, the agency, cooperated via its TC platform with other international organizations and promoted nuclear applications in areas like human health, food and agriculture, water resource management and environmental protection, and provided varied support to 129 countries and territories. In the area of safeguards, the agency has applied safeguards in 175 countries and worked to promote the universalization of safeguards agreements and APs, resulting in continuous improvements in integrated safeguards. The agency also supported and helped member states in capacity building in nuclear security by preparing nuclear security series documents, organizing various training courses on nuclear security and promoting nuclear security culture in accordance with the nuclear security plan 2010-2013. All this has been fully recognized by the international community.

Using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and increasing the share of clean energy in its energy mix is an important part of China's energy development strategy. In the course of nuclear energy development and use, the Chinese government has accorded top priority to nuclear safety and always followed the safety first principle. We have aggressively introduced and developed advanced nuclear technology to provide technological guarantee for nuclear safety. To ensure safety, China has put in place a fairly complete nuclear safety laws and regulations, as well as regulatory and emergency response systems. Through independent, rigorous and effective nuclear safety regulation, we have ensured the safe and reliable operation of nuclear facilities and maintained a good safety record. In April this year, the Chinese government was represented at the fifth review meeting of convention on nuclear safety. The Chinese delegation participated in the deliberations on all agenda items and China's national report was approved by the meeting.

The Fukushima nuclear accident which occurred last March was the worst nuclear accident in the history nuclear industry worldwide following the 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents, putting nuclear safety once again in the focus of world attention. In the aftermath of the accident, the China national nuclear accident emergency response coordination committee immediately activated the relevant coordination mechanism by conducting continued radiation monitoring of China's terrestrial and marine environments, organizing expert analyses and assessments and releasing timely and authoritative information to the public through the news media. To ensure nuclear safety, competent authorities for nuclear energy and safety promptly carried out safety inspections of nuclear facilities, strengthened safety management of operating nuclear installations, comprehensively reviewed and reassessed the safety of NPPs under construction, developed nuclear safety programs, modified and improved our medium and long-term nuclear power development plan, and strictly reviewed new projects before approval. All these measures have played an important role in increasing government transparency and public confidence in nuclear energy.

For many countries, nuclear energy remains one of their options to respond to global energy shortage and climate change, but the development of nuclear energy must be predicated on ensuring safety. As the effects of nuclear accidents transcend national borders, achieving higher level of nuclear safety requires the joint efforts of the international community. We have noted quite a few proposals from a number of countries on strengthening the international nuclear safety regime/mechanism and will participate in discussions on them. The Chinese government supports a leading role for the agency in efforts to raise the level of nuclear safety worldwide. The IAEA ministerial conference to be held on June 20-24 will be a significant opportunity to summarize lessons learned from the Fukushima accident and further improve the level of nuclear safety and emergency response worldwide. A high-level Chinese delegation will attend the conference and play an active role. I wish the conference full success.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the security of nuclear material and facilities. In 2009 China became one of the earliest ratifiers of the CPPNM by depositing its instrument of ratification. In april 2010, Chinese president Hu solemnly committed at the Washington nuke security summit to strengthen nuclear security and made a 6-point proposal on strengthening global nuke security. He announced then that China will cooperate with countries concerned to set up in China a nuclear security demonstration center. Currently, the Chinese government is working with its US counterpart on preparations for the construction of the center. We welcome the agency and members to help the construction of the demonstration center.

As an old Chinese saying goes, a lesson learnt serves as a guide to the future, the international community should give high priority to the paramount importance and urgency of nuclear safety. Attending the summit on nuclear safety and innovative nuclear energy use in Ukraine on april 19, Chinese vice-premier Zhang Dejiang made a 4-point proposal on strengthening global nuclear safety. In the future, the Chinese government will, with a strong sense of responsibility to the international community and its own citizens, continue to strengthen international coop in the nuclear safety field, take further and more effective safety measures, strictly fulfill its international obligations, develop and use nuclear power vigorously and steadily to promote the safe, sound and sustainable development of nuclear energy.

The Chinese government will, along with other members, continue to give great importance and strong support to the work of the agency. It is our view that the agency secretariat should have the resources needed to do its work so as to fulfill its statutory mandate to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity worldwide.

With the above comments, my delegation endorses the annual report for 2010.