Special
Report: President Hu visits 4 Asian nations, attends APEC
meeting
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Pakistan signed a wide-ranging
joint statement here Saturday on bilateral relations, international and regional
situation, economic and trade cooperation, military cooperation and
anti-terrorism.
The joint statement was signed during Chinese President Hu Jintao's current
state visit to Pakistan.
BILATERAL RELATIONS
The statement hailed Hu's current visit in Pakistan as being highly
successful and recalled the history of development of friendly relations and
cooperation between China and Pakistan, particularly highlighting the importance
of relations and cooperation between the two countries.
It is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and conducive to
regional peace and development to strengthen good-neighborliness and friendship,
conduct mutually beneficial cooperation and enhance the strategic partnership
between the two countries, said the statement.
The statement specified that China and Pakistan will further strengthen
high-level exchanges in various areas and promote bilateral cooperation in such
fields as trade and economy, manufacture, agriculture, information industry,
infrastructure construction, human resources development, banking, tourism,
defense, anti-terrorism, and international and regional relations.
REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
In the statement, China reaffirmed its respect for Pakistan's independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity and expressed appreciation and support for
the efforts made by Pakistan to promote peace and stability in South Asia and to
safeguard its sovereignty and independence.
And Pakistan, for its part, recognized that the government of the People's
Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China
and that Taiwan is an alienable part of China, reaffirming its full support for
China's peaceful reunification.
The two sides agreed to continue communication and coordination on regional
and international issues in a joint effort to consolidate solidarity and
cooperation among the developing countries, safeguard their legitimate rights
and interests in the process of globalization, and promote regional and global
peace, security and prosperity, the statement said.
ECONOMIC AND TRADE COOPERATION
The two sides believed that broad prospects have emerged in the bilateral
economic and trade ties in recent years, the statement said.
Both sides decided to put trade in services on fast track to make FTA (Free
Trade Agreement) on goods and services more comprehensive, it said, adding they
agreed to increase their bilateral trade to over 15 billion U.S. dollars in the
next five years.
The two sides took note of the achievements of and potential for
cooperation in the manufacturing sector and decided to strengthen cooperation in
household appliances, automobile and textile industries, according to the
statement.
Furthermore, they also agreed to strengthen comprehensive project
cooperation in the energy sector, including fossil fuels, coal, hydropower,
nuclear power, renewable sources of energy as well as in the mining and
resources sector, it said.
To facilitate people-to-people exchanges and trade and economic cooperation
between the western region of China and Pakistan, China agreed to set up a
Pakistan Consulate General in Chengdu, it said.
MILITARY COOPERATION
China and Pakistan expressed satisfaction on close cooperation between
their defense ministries as well as the two militaries at various level and in
various fields in recent years, the statement said.
It added that the two sides decided to continue all-round cooperation
including the exchanges of group visits and consultation on national defense and
personnel training.
ANTI-TERRORISM
In the statement, the two sides shared the view that the three evil forces
of terrorism, separatism and extremism pose grave threats to regional peace,
stability and security.
They reaffirmed their commitment to substantive cooperation under bilateral
and multilateral frameworks to jointly combat the three evil forces, and
maintain regional peace, stability and security.
Hu arrived here on Thursday for a state visit to Pakistan. It is the last
leg of Hu's four-nation Asia tour, which has already taken him to Vietnam, Laos
and India.
The visit also coincides with the 55th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan.
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