Investigation of alleged use of biological and chemical weapons is of high political sensitivity. The Secretary General's mechanism on investigation of alleged use of biological and chemical weapons originated from the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s. The mechanism has played certain role against that unique historic background, but it cannot meet the demands of the new situation.

China has taken part in the work of the Expert Group of updating the mechanism in a constructive manner and joined consensus on the final report of the Group. China holds that the update process should seek opinions from the U.N. member states in a broad manner and adhere to some general principles, such as: the mechanism should only apply to the investigation of alleged use of biological and chemical weapons by sovereign states; the investigation should be conducted in the least intrusive manner; while ensuring the effectiveness of the investigation, the interests of the investigated states should also be protected; the mechanism should not replace, weaken or duplicate the work of the existing multilateral verification mechanisms in biological and chemical fields.