UNITED NATIONS, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The head of the Department of Arms Control of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Fu Cong on Monday urged the international community to tap the enormous potential of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, at the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The Chinese envoy said that the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, as an inalienable right empowered by the NPT, represent an important means for the international community to meet in unison the challenge of climate change, increase the driving force for global economic development, and achieve green development and the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Promoting cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is a noble mission in the new era of service development, said Fu, adding that the current round of the NPT review process should step up research on this and try to come up with pragmatic and effective initiatives for cooperation that benefit all parties.

At the same time, such cooperation should not be politicized, and much less should it be used as a tool for major power competition, he noted.

Fu called on all parties to properly balance the relations between nuclear non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and, under the NPT framework, bolster cooperation on nuclear energy and take effective steps to provide developing countries with more resources.

Since 1995, NPT review conferences have produced decisions, action plans, practical steps and measures to improve the effectiveness of the review process itself.

The NPT, signed in 1968 and effective since 1970, is the only treaty that contains legally-binding commitments to pursuing nuclear disarmament. A total of 191 states have joined the treaty.