(VOVworld) – US President Barack Obama’s administration on Tuesday urged senators to support a new 30-year agreement with China on civilian nuclear cooperation.

US President Barack Obama’s administration called for support to a new 30-year agreement with China on civilian nuclear cooperation (photo:article.wn.com)

Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that China's nonproliferation record has improved markedly since the last agreement was signed in 1985 but he could not confirm that Chinese firms have stopped selling such technology. Frank Klotz, under secretary for nuclear security at the Department of Energy, said the agreement will enhance the US’s ability to manage and mitigate the risk of China diverting sensitive nuclear technology to its military programs or re-exporting it without US permission. The current agreement expires at the end of this year and President Obama submitted the new agreement to lawmakers on April 21.