NANNING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- China and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a joint statement on port
development and cooperation aiming at shore up the role of shipping and ports in
China-ASEAN trade in the southern Chinese city of Nanning on Monday.
During the two-day meeting of transport and
communication ministers, China and ASEAN had reached consensus on the final
Draft of the ASEAN-China Maritime Transport Agreement, and agreed to submit this
document for signing at the 6th ASEAN-China Transport Ministers' Meeting to be
held in Singapore on November 2, 2007.
The two sides also showed satisfaction on the Draft
of the Strategic Plan for ASEAN-China Transport Cooperation, and have agreed to
adopt the Strategic Plan as soon as possible so as to develop the port
cooperation plan and identify the top priority cooperation projects, the
statement said.
China and ASEAN recognized the need to establish the
ASEAN-China port coordination mechanism, aiming at an effective implementation
of relevant cooperation activities.
The two sides said they will encourage and support
the port cooperation in the sub-regional groupings. The detailed cooperation
will be discussed under the future Strategic Plan for ASEAN-China Transport
Cooperation.
China and ASEAN also vowed to improve investment
environment and develop the related facilitative policies, support enterprises
to participate in the port infrastructure development, and expand financing
channels.
They will continue to support the utilization of
ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund to promote the human resources development,
personnel training and technical and information exchanges in port construction
and management, said the statement. Nine of the 10-nation ASEAN, excluding Laos,
are maritime countries. Port economies play a crucial role in Singapore, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Vietnam.
Statistics show that by the end of last year, China
has more than 1,400 ports, handling 5.57 billion tons of cargo throughput in
2006.
"Last year alone, 100 billion U.S. dollars of goods
in the China-ASIAN bilateral trade are handled via ports and shipping, that's
more than half of the total trade volume," Chinese Transportation Minister Li
Shenglin said at the forum. Bilateral trade between the two sides reached 160.8
billion U.S. dollars in 2006, more than twenty-folded the amount in 1991 when
China and the ASEAN forged dialog relations.
Themed "Enhancing Regional Cooperation, Promoting
Common Development", the ASEAN-China Port Development and Cooperation Forum was
held during the 4th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) in Nanning on October 28 to 29.
Port cooperation is the overriding theme of this year's Expo.
Some 450 corporate executives of port administration, shipping, logistics, shipbuilding and repair, port equipment manufacturing companies, and experts met at the forum to exchange views on the impact of the international shipping industry on regional port cooperation and logistics, as well as the development strategy and financing of ports and port cities.
The 10-member ASEAN comprise Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
China, ASEAN issue joint statement, vowing to ensure food safety
NANNING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday issued a joint statement, vowing to strengthen cooperation in food safety, promote food trade and protect consumers' rights and benefits.
The Nanning Joint Statement was issued at the end of the two-day China-ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in the southern China city of Nanning, where the Fourth China-ASEAN Expo and Fourth China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit are going on. Full story
