VIENNA - China will actively push forward the nuclear disarmament process, a Chinese envoy said in Vienna on Monday.

The complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons and establishing a world free of nuclear weapons were the common aspiration of all the peace-loving people from all countries of the world, said Cheng Jingye, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna.

Speaking at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Cheng said China was firmly committed to a nuclear strategy of self-defense, and therefore would keep its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for national security.

He said China had adhered to the policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstance, and made the unequivocal commitment that it would unconditionally not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones.

China had never deployed any nuclear weapons on foreign territories or taken part in any nuclear arms race in any form, and would never do that in the future, Cheng said.

The Chinese envoy also said that all nuclear-weapon states should fulfill in good faith the obligations under article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and publicly undertake not to seek permanent possession of nuclear weapons.

He added that countries with the largest nuclear arsenals should continue to make drastic reductions in their nuclear arsenals in a verifiable and irreversible manner. Other nuclear-weapon states, when conditions are ripe, should also join the multilateral negotiations on nuclear disarmament.

To earnestly reduce the risks of nuclear weapons, nuclear-weapon states should abandon the nuclear deterrence policy based on the first use of nuclear weapons, Chen stressed.

The nuclear-weapon states should unequivocally undertake not to be the first to use nuclear weapons and negotiate and conclude the Treaty on Mutual No-First-Use of Nuclear Weapons, he said.

Nuclear-weapon states should also unequivocally undertake unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states and nuclear-weapon-free zones, he said.

He also emphasized that nuclear disarmament is closely linked to the global strategic stability. The development of missile defense systems which disrupt global strategic balance and stability should be abandoned.

Furthermore, multilateral negotiation process to prevent the weaponization of and arms race in the outer space should be vigorously promoted, so as to foster a favorable international strategic security environment for nuclear disarmament, he said.