BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhuanet) -- China is willing to join hands with the international community in eliminating the illegal trade of small arms and light weapons, said Qiao Zonghuai, a senior official with the Foreign Ministry, here Tuesday.

    Qiao made the remarks at a three-day United Nations Workshop onSmall Arms and Light Weapons attended by about 70 government officials and scholars from more than 30 countries and another teninternational, regional and non-governmental organizations.

    Qiao said maintaining world peace, promoting common developmentand strengthening cooperation with mutual benefits has become an unavoidable trend nowadays. However, both traditional and non-traditional threats to security still exist.

    The harm caused by illegal sales of small arms, such as machineguns, rifles, grenades and pistols, should not be ignored, he said,noting that severely combating illegal activities concerning smallarms and properly controlling legal activities of manufacture and transfer of small arms are conducive to safeguarding regional peace as well as fighting against terrorism and transnational crimes.

    Qiao expressed his appreciation for the effective efforts made by the international community in recent years combating illegal trading of small arms, saying that the United Nations should continue to play a leading role in this process and all countries should strengthen coordination and cooperation in their policing and customs.

    Qiao introduced China's measures to strengthen management on the manufacture, holding, and export of small arms, noting that China is devoted to joining multilateral efforts to fight against illegal trade of small arms.

    Nobuyasu Abe, United Nations under-secretary general for disarmament affairs, also addressed the opening ceremony of the workshop on Tuesday. All participants to the workshop will discussissues and challenges faced in fighting against illegal trade of small arms. Enditem