Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu on Monday hailed a joint statement issued by the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states, namely China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States, on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms race.

The five countries reaffirmed in the statement that none of their nuclear weapons are targeted at each other or at any other state, and that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.

Ma said it was the first time that the leaders of the five countries issued a statement on nuclear weapons, and that showed their political will to prevent nuclear war and sent a shared voice for maintaining global strategic stability and reducing the risk of nuclear conflict.