Chinese and Japanese experts Friday completed sealing chemical weapons left by Japanese troops during the Chinese people's war against Japanese aggression (1937-1945) in Qiqihar City of Heilongjiang Province, northeast China.

Since early this month, the experts have sealed 724 pieces of chemical weapons, along with five barrels of mustard gas which were dug up at a construction site in the city on Aug. 4, and killed one person and injured 43 others.

Each chemical weapon has been packed in layers of special soft materials, and put into a specific metal container. No accidents or environmental pollution have been reported during the whole process.

The sealed chemical weapons will be destroyed when a professional destruction center is ready in the city, said Chinese officials responsible for handling chemical weapons the Japanese abandoned in China.

According to a treaty between the two countries, Japanese-abandoned chemical weapons that have been found in China should be destroyed before the year 2007.
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(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2003)