The cooperation agreement between China and the European Union on nonproliferation and arms control is crucial to global efforts in the field, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in Beijing on December 9.

Zhang made the remark at a regular press conference in response to a question about the EU-China joint declaration on nonproliferation and arms control signed Wednesday at the seventh EU-China summit by Li Zhaoxing, China's Foreign Minister, Javier Solana, secretary general of EU council and representative for the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy and Bernard Bot, Dutch Foreign Minister, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

The declaration recognizes China and EU as a major strategic partners in disarmament and nonproliferation and defines cooperation priorities. It is conducive to raising the cooperation to a higher level and expand the all-round strategic partnership between the two sides, said the spokeswoman.

China and the EU have broad common interests and wide consensus on nonproliferation and arms control. Both sides are committed to maintaining global security, opposing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and strengthening the international regime of nonproliferation and arms control, Zhang said, adding EU-China cooperation on nonproliferation and arms control is crucial to global peace and stability.