GENEVA -- Chinese diplomat Fu Cong on Monday recognized the severity of the global drugs situation and highlighted the crucial role played by the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime when dealing with this global scourge.

"While human rights instruments can be used as a beneficial and complementary reference in addressing the drug problem, they should not be deemed as having a superior legal status to international drug control conventions," he said in a statement on behalf of 28 states in a general debate of the 31st session of the Human Rights Council.

Fu, deputy head of the Chinese mission to the UN at Geneva, urged nations to respect the three major UN international drug control conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988 as well as the "2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action."

To efficiently tackle the issue affecting global communities, Fu called for a comprehensive, integrated and balanced approach while calling for all states to respect other nations' agendas.

"Each country has the right to determine how best to overcome the scourge of drugs, including through rehabilitation, healthcare, socio-economic policy, justice and the appropriate punishment for drug-related crimes," he said.

The Chinese representative furthermore called for increased cooperation between countries in the fields of law enforcement and legal assistance.

"We should support alternative development programs within the framework of comprehensive crop control measures, especially in countries of origin of drugs, and use poverty eradication and promoting sustainable development as effective tools for enhancing cooperation in drug prevention," he added.

The 31st session of the Human Rights Council will end on March 24.