HARBIN, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan on Tuesday jointly kicked off mobile destruction of chemical weapons abandoned by Japan (Japanese ACWs) during the Second World War in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Disposal facilities for the destruction work were completed and set up, and Japanese ACWs found in surrounding areas were then transported to the destruction site, according to a Chinese government official.
"Since preparation for the mobile destruction work at Harbin began in 2010, China and Japan have reached agreement on issues including the technical approaches, risk assessment, environmental monitoring and contingency plans in nearly 30 rounds of negotiations," the official said.
In 2007, leaders of the two countries reached consensus on destroying Japanese ACWs scattered in China with mobile disposal facilities to expedite the process.
In accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention as well as a Memorandum of Understanding inked between the two governments, Japan is responsible for destroying the ACWs and providing all necessary funds, technology, experts, apparatus and other resources, while the Chinese side offers assistance, the official added.
Harbin is the fourth city in China to carry out the destruction of Japanese ACWs with mobile facilities, after Nanjing, Shijiazhuang and Wuhan, where stockpiles of chemical weapons left during Japanese invasion have also been found.
