Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) accompanies South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan in reviewing the honor guard of the three services of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Beijing, capital of China, June 21, 2005. Wen Jiabao held a welcome ceremony for Lee Hae-chan on June 21. (Xinhua Photo)

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) shakes hands with South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan during a welcome ceremony Wen hosts for Lee in Beijing, capital of China, June 21, 2005. (Xinhua Photo)

   BEIJING, June 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged here Tuesday all parties concerned to take the opportunity and show more flexibility and sincerity to create an atmosphere and conditions for the early resumption of the six-party talks.

    The Chinese side will go on with its efforts and maintain close coordination and cooperation with the Republic of Korea (ROK) to this end, said Wen during his talks with ROK Prime Minister Lee Hae-Chan, who arrived here earlier Tuesday on a three-day official visit to China as Wen's guest.

    Wen said China and the ROK are important countries in the region and should further exert their influence and jointly promote regional cooperation for common prosperity.

    As all the relevant parties are making efforts for the resumption of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue, Wen said China believes that dialogues and negotiations are the only right option for resolving the issue and utmost efforts should be made to solve the issue through peaceful means.

    In order to end the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue peacefully,China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, Russia, the ROK and Japan have convened three rounds of six-party nuclear talks in Beijing.

    Lee, who is on his first visit to China since he became prime minister, spoke positively of China's important role in international and regional affairs.

    Wen and Lee had an exchange of views on bilateral relations and regional and international of common concern during their talks and they agreed to make concerted efforts to continue promoting bilateral overall and cooperative partnership.

    Wen pointed to the smooth growth of bilateral partnership with constant high-level contacts, increased mutual understanding and trust, rapid growing two-way trade and investment, and close coordination and cooperation in regional and international affairs.

    The Chinese side will work with the ROK side to further reinforce the political and economic basis to ensure the better development of bilateral relations, said Wen.

    He said the expanding bilateral economic and trade cooperation highlights bilateral ties. He also made a three-point proposal for the further growth of bilateral reciprocal cooperation.

    The first is to map out a long-term plan, substantiate the concerned plans as soon as possible, and strive for the early launching of government negotiation on setting up a free trade area.

    The second is to go on widening cooperative spheres and furthering cooperation in such fields as new- and high-tech, infrastructure construction, service and some big projects. China welcomes ROK investment in China's eastern areas, and in the development of its western areas and the revitalization of old industrial bases in northeast China.

    The third is to solve issues in bilateral trade appropriately. China hopes the ROK side will pay attention to the imbalance in bilateral trade and take effective measures concerning market access and expansion of import from China, Wen said.

    Lee said the continuous growth of bilateral partnership conforms to the interests of both sides and bilateral economic and trade cooperation has witnessed sustained growth with broad prospects since the forging of diplomatic ties between the two nations 13 years ago.

    He said the ROK will make joint efforts with China to further expand bilateral economic and trade cooperation. It will also actively push forward negotiations on establishing a free trade area, expand bilateral cooperative spheres and encourage ROK businesses to China's western areas.

    He said the ROK attaches importance to the imbalance in bilateral trade and will take further measures to address the issue.

    Lee is also scheduled to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo during his visit.

    China and the ROK witnessed a rapid growth in trade over recentyears. In 2004, the volume of bilateral trade hit 90 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 42.4 percent. Bilateral trade is expected to exceed 100 billion US dollars this year.

    China is ROK's largest trade partner while ROK is China's fourth largest trade partner. Enditem