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Wen promotes regional co-op at East Asia Summit

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-30 22:46
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HANOI - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao strove to promote regional understanding and cooperation at the East Asia Summit and in bilateral talks with Vietnamese and Australian leaders on Saturday.

Wen wound up a three-day visit to Hanoi after attending a series of summits between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six partners including China, Japan and South Korea.

East Asia Summit

Addressing the Fifth East Asia Summit, Wen said China is ready to work with other parties to deepen East Asian cooperation by upholding the established principles and purposes of the East Asia Summit.

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Wen said the summit had stuck to its orientation and launched fruitful dialogue and cooperation in finance, energy, education, bird flu control and disaster relief.

The summit gathered leaders of ASEAN and six dialogue partners of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were invited to the summit as special guests.

Wen saw profound and complicated changes undergoing in regional and international situations, which created both chances and challenges.

China would like to discuss with all partners the proposals for the economic integration in East Asia and jointly promote regional peace, stability and development, he said.

While centrality of ASEAN must be respected in the process of East Asia integration, it is also necessary to make efforts for the existing mechanisms to play their roles, such as the summit between China and ASEAN (10+1), the summit between ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea (10+3) and the summit of China, Japan and South Korea, said Wen.

Wen said China welcomed the participation of Russia and the United States in the East Asia Summit.

He said he believed cooperation in East Asia would expand with the joint efforts by all the partners.

Wen had been in Hanoi since Thursday for the summits between ASEAN and its partners. He also made proposals at some of the summits on Friday for bilateral efforts on free trade agreements between ASEAN and its partners like China to spearhead the integration process in East Asia.

Bilateral meetings

In a meeting on Saturday morning with Nong Duc Manh, general-secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Wen said that China is willing to maintain high-level contacts with Vietnam and that the two countries should share their experience in development.

Wen said both countries had acquired precious experience from the successful settlement of their differences on the land boarder and the Beibu Gulf. Hence for the South China Sea disputes, bilateral negotiation and consultation should still be the right way for a solution.

Manh agreed with Wen, and expressed his confidence that both sides could properly handle the differences in their relations.

Wen's visit also manifested the comprehensive strategic partnership and cooperation between China and Vietnam as well as the friendship between the peoples and Communist Parties of the two countries, he said.

In a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summits, Wen and his Australian counterpart, Julia Gillard, promised concerted efforts to further promote the development of relations between their two countries.

Wen called for efforts to maintain and boost cooperation in the sectors of energy and resources and expand cooperation in clean energy and environment protection in a bid to promote sustainable development.

The two sides should continue to push forward free trade agreement talks, expand exchanges in culture, education, tourism and press and strengthen communication and coordination within the framework of the United Nations and the Group of 20 (G20), he said.

Gillard said bilateral relations have been expanding in recent years and that China has become the biggest trading partner to Australia.

She said the new cabinet of Australia would further promote the development of bilateral ties. Australia is willing to maintain high-level contacts, push for progress in free trade talks and expand economic and trade cooperation. Gillard also invited Chinese enterprises to invest in Australia.

Gillard said Australia is willing to enhance cooperation with China within the framework of multilateral organizations such as the G20 in an attempt to promote strong, sustainable and balanced global economic growth.