VIENNA - A Chinese envoy in Vienna reiterated Tuesday that the Chinese government would consistently uphold strict policies of drug control and fulfill the three anti-drug conventions of the United Nations.

China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna Cheng Jingye made the remarks while addressing at the ongoing 55th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).

The session, opened earlier in the day, was a special ceremony to mark the centenary of the signing of the International Opium Convention in 1912, the first legal instrument on drug control.

Cheng said that the International Opium Convention in 1912 was the first legal document on international drug control, which laid the basis for international cooperation in drug control and was a landmark event in the history of international drug control.

Racked by drugs in modern Chinese history, Chinese people bear a deep detest of drugs, Cheng noted, adding that the Chinese government had attached great importance to drug control and made determined strategy and policy on drug control.

In China, both temporary and long-term solutions were considered while dealing with drug issues; the reduction of drug demand and supply were given equal weight; human factors were taken as a priority and drug control was conducted under the help of scientific means, the ambassador said.

China also sticks to international cooperation and has actively participated in international activities of drug control, Cheng said. China has achieved positive results in combating drug crime, curbing related harms and other aspects, he added.

The ambassador also said that drug crime had become a major global issue and its influence had been increasing while more and more countries and regions were affected. To eliminate the serious harm of drugs to human society, the international community still needs to make continuous and determined efforts, he stressed.

In January 1912, China, Japan, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom signed the International Opium Convention in The Hague, the Netherlands, following the conference of the International Opium Commission in 1909 in Shanghai.

Based on the Convention, the international community has consistently carried out cooperation and formed the modern drug control system cored with the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 and the UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in 1988, which are the three anti-drug conventions of the United Nations.