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.

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

Russia on Saturday announced that its forces had controlled several settlements, while the Ukrainian side reported that it had repelled multiple Russian attacks, according to the latest updates from the two countries.

According to a statement released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Saturday, Russian forces controlled a settlement in the Donetsk region and a settlement in the Zaporizhzhia region. Also, the Russian military took control of the settlement of Veselovka in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region.

The statement also noted that Russian air defense systems shot down a total of 73 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours, while Russian forces struck 148 areas within Ukraine, targeting military airfield infrastructure, drone assembly workshops, storage facilities and command centers.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that over the past day, Ukrainian drones have repeatedly attacked energy infrastructure in Russia's Belgorod region, cutting some high-voltage lines and damaging a number of transformers, and causing power outages for over 9,000 households in the area. Ukraine has not responded to this incident yet.

The ministry previously reported that Ukraine has recently used weapons such as drones to attack Russian energy infrastructure. Ukraine said on Friday that the Russian Defense Ministry's statement is fabricated.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on the same day that Ukrainian forces had repelled multiple Russian attacks in directions such as Pokrovsk and Kursk.

In addition, the Ukrainian air force successfully destroyed three air Russian defense systems and 164 drones, the Ukrainian side said.

On the same day, the missile and drone attacks by the Russian military had caused multiple casualties in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and other places, according to Ukrainian media.

Russia claims control of several settlements, Ukraine says repelling Russian attacks