Beautiful Ireland

China is ready to enhance cooperation with Ireland in all areas, Chinese Vice Premier HuangJu said here Friday during his meeting with Irish Minister ofFinance Brian Cowen.

Cowen is heading a delegation to China for a meeting of Asian and European finance ministers. The Sixth ASEM (Asia EuropeMeeting) Finance Ministers' Meeting (FMM) is to be held in north China's port city of Tianjin on June 26.

Huang said the relations between China and Ireland are good. He expressed appreciation to the government of Ireland for its efforts to promote bilateral relations and the links between China and Europe. He said the Chinese government is willing to further push forward the relations with Ireland and Europe.

Cowen said since the two countries established diplomatic links 25 years ago, the relations between Ireland and China have improved rapidly. In recent years, the two sides have had frequent exchanges of high-level visits and have cooperated in various areas.

The governments of the two countries have set a goal of doubling the value of two-way trade. In 2004, trade between China and Ireland topped 3.3 billion Euros, increasing 42 percent overthe previous year. The figure is expected to reach 6 billion Euros in the coming years.

Cowen expressed the wish to further expand cooperation with China in such areas as education, technology, and culture. The two countries should also increase coordination on international affairs, he said.

(China Daily)