The international community should cut its dependence on hazardous nuclear materials and eradicate nuclear terrorism with the aid of multilateral frameworks, Li Hong, secretary-general of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

"The huge amount of existing nuclear weapons and nuclear materials capable of producing nuclear warheads is posing threats to global peace and nuclear security," said Li, who was a member of the Chinese delegation at the Nuclear Security Symposium last week in Seoul.

Li said that currently there are about 10,000 nuclear bombs as well as 2,100 tons of nuclear fission materials, enough to make another 100,000 nuclear bombs, in the world.

Terrorists have sought to buy, steal or directly manufacture nuclear warheads, and global smuggling and illicit transactions of nuclear technologies and material "have been rampant", Li said.

Around 2,100 cases of theft, sabotage or unauthorized access of nuclear materials were reported, according to International Atomic Energy Agency.

Nuclear facilities around the globe should reduce their reliance on reactors using high-enriched (90 percent enriched) uranium, which can be used in nuclear weapons.

Republic of Korea army soldiers wearing protective gear talk to each other during an anti-terrorism exercise for the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit at a subway station in Seoul on March 20. Ahn Young-Joon / for China Daily