Special Report: Premier Wen Attends 12th China-ASEAN Meetings
BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi Sunday unveiled a multi-billion-dollar package of aid and
credit to enhance China-ASEAN cooperation.
Yang met with envoys of the 10 ASEAN countries in
Beijing Sunday, fresh from his return from Thailand late Saturday where
scheduled Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings were postponed
due to Thailand's domestic unrest.
 |
|
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (C)
meets with envoys of 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), in Beijing, capital of China, on April 12,
2009.(Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
Photo Gallery>>> |
"As always, China firmly backs ASEAN integration and
community building, and firmly supports ASEAN playing a leading role in regional
cooperation," said Yang, adding China's policy toward cooperation with the ASEAN
was unchanged despite the postponement of the meetings.
Yang said China called for joint efforts to reach an
investment agreement, which was scheduled to be signed on the sidelines of the
postponed meetings.
The agreement would be conducive to the establishment
of the China-ASEAN free trade zone.
China planned to establish a China-ASEAN investment
cooperation fund totaling 10 billion U.S. dollars, designed for cooperation on
infrastructure construction, energy and resources, information and
communications, Yang said.
Over the next three to five years, China planned to
offer credit of 15 billion U.S. dollars to ASEAN countries, including loans with
preferential terms of 1.7 billion dollars in aid for cooperation projects.
China also planned to offer 270 million yuan (39.7
million dollars) in special aid to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to meet urgent
needs, inject 5 million dollars into the China-ASEAN Cooperation Fund, and
donate 900,000 dollars to the cooperation fund of ASEAN plus China, Japan and
the Republic of Korea (ROK).
Regarding sub-regional cooperation between the two
sides, China proposed to vigorously push forward development in Mekong river
subregion, cooperation in areas including East ASEAN Growth Area and
Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle.
Yang also expressed China's hope of expanding
exchanges and cooperation between its coastal, frontier, central and western
provinces and enterprises on the one hand and the ASEAN countries on the other
hand to foster new outlets of economic growth.
Financial cooperation was also included in the
proposals. China calls for stepping up the multilateralization of Chiang Mai
Initiative, expanding regional foreign exchange reserve pool, increasing scale
and range of relevant bilateral currency swaps, to further Asian bond market
building.
China will provide 300,000 tons of rice for the
emergency East Asia rice reserve to strengthen food security in the region.
China also proposed to implement the China-ASEAN grain production capability
enhancement action plan, which included the establishment of high-quality,
high-yield crop demonstration farms in ASEAN countries and agrotechnical
training course.
China will offer an extra 2,000 government
scholarships and 200master's scholarships for public administration students
from the developing member countries over the next five years. China will also
host a series of training projects on tackling natural disasters, to share its
experience with ASEAN countries.
China is to continue strengthening dialogue with
ASEAN defense academics, and enhance cooperation on cracking down on
transnational crimes by holding relevant training course.
"The overall thought for China-ASEAN cooperation is
that the two sides should rise to difficulties in face of the grim global
financial crisis, and make efforts to convert unprecedented challenge into
opportunity for closer pragmatic cooperation and common development," said Yang.
"China feel confident of prospect of ASEAN
development and the China-ASEAN cooperation of friendship," he said.
The envoys expressed that the proposals were
comprehensive and important, which would exert profound and active influence on
China-ASEAN cooperation, and would enormously support ASEAN countries during the
global financial crisis.
Thailand was deeply appreciative of Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao's attendance at the postponed meetings, Thai Ambassador to China
Rathakit Manathat said.
He also expressed gratitude for China's understanding
of Thailand's decision of postponement.
Xue Hanqin, who was appointed as China's first
ambassador to the ASEAN late last year, told Xinhua that China's unchanged
policy of friendship toward the ASEAN was in coincidence with a Chinese proverb,
namely "misfortunes test the sincerity of friends".
All the envoys expressed their willingness to work
with China to step up the ASEAN-China relationship.
ASEAN member countries are Thailand, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia.
Chinese FM: China shows sincerity, responsibility, confidence in
East Asian cooperation
BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's
attendance at the ASEAN-related summits has shown the Chinese government's
sincerity, responsibility and confidence in facilitating the East Asian
cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Saturday.
The summits related to the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) are an important cooperative mechanism in the region. All the
participants hope the summits can reach consensus and yield a substantial
outcome, he said. Full story
Wen says China to keep cooperation with ASEAN, back its
integration
PATTAYA, Thailand, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao told his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva during a phone
conversation on Saturday that China attaches great importance to its relations
with ASEAN and will steadfastly strengthen the friendly and mutual beneficial
cooperation with ASEAN and support the ASEAN integration process. Full story
Wen says China's policies toward ASEAN
unchanged
PATTAYA, Thailand, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao on Saturday told his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva on phone that
China's policies on deepening the exchanges and cooperation with the ASEAN in
various fields, helping the ASEAN states overcome difficulties and pushing
forward the regional cooperation process remain unchanged. Full story
Chinese premier meets Thai
PM
PATTAYA, Thailand, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao said on Saturday he regretted that the summits related to the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been postponed, but he
understood the Thai government's decision.
As Thailand's friendly neighbor, China hopes Thailand's
domestic situation will return to normal at an early date, Wen said while
talking briefly with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who went to see Wen
off at the airport. Full story
