China will maintain its opposition to human reproductive cloning but continue to allow closely monitored embryo stem cell research for the treatment and prevention of disease, said Wang Hongguang, president of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development, on Sunday.

"Therapeutic cloning opens up prospects for the replacement of dead stem cells and will improve the health of individuals and mankind as a whole," Wang said.

Advocates of the technique believe it may lead to cures for some 100 million people worldwide with such conditions as Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes and spinal cord injuries.

Wang said that China's embryo stem cell research is taking a leading position among developing countries. Several dermatological products are undergoing or preparing to undergo clinical trials.

Wang pointed out, however, that China still lags well behind developed countries in stem cell research.

The statement was made in response to Friday's adoption by the legal committee of the United Nations General Assembly of a non-binding declaration calling on governments to prohibit all forms of human cloning, including techniques used in research on human stem cells.

The committee was deeply divided in its vote on the measure, which was submitted by Honduras and backed by the administration of US President George W. Bush. The proposal will now go to the full 191-nation General Assembly for a decision.

Thirty-five countries, including China, Belgium and Britain, voted against the declaration, while 71 supported it. There were 43 abstentions.

Chinese representative Su Wei said that the wording of the declaration is vague and the banning of "all forms of human cloning [that] are incompatible with human dignity" may be misinterpreted as including therapeutic cloning, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The issue has been under debate in the UN since 2001, when a proposal was submitted to draft a binding global treaty banning human cloning. Italy subsequently proposed the adoption of a nonbinding declaration calling on nations to pass laws prohibiting attempts to create human life through cloning. The Honduras proposal followed.

(China Daily, China.org.cn February 21, 2005)