China will continue promoting all-round cooperation with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for mutual benefit,
Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Zhang Yun told Xinhua on
Thursday.?
The ambassador elaborated on China's Asia policy and the impacts
China's development has had on Asia, with Southeast Asia in
particular, in recent years.
"China's Asia policy is to 'build good-neighborly relations and
partnerships with its neighbors' and to 'secure an amicable,
tranquil and prosperous neighborhood'," the ambassador said.
He added that China has always integrated its own interests with
those of other Asian countries in an effort to embark on a win-win
road of cooperation together with these
countries.?????
He said China's development has promoted peace and stability in
Asia and injected new impetus into regional cooperation.
China, as a large potential market in the world, has created
great opportunities for Asia in terms of importation, direct
investment and tourism, he added.
In 2003, China's import of goods from other Asian countries and
regions registered US$272.9 billion, he said, adding that its
direct investment in Asian countries has maintained a 20 percent
annual growth rate on an average in recent years.
Among the 29 million Chinese people who went abroad in 2004, a
great proportion picked Asian countries and regions as their first
choice of destination.
"Along with China's development, its market scale and investment
abroad will further expand, more Chinese people will go to other
parts of Asia for traveling, business and visits, and China's
economy will become further integrated with the Asian economy,
shaping a new type of cooperative relationship characterized by
mutual benefit, complementary and mutual assistance," the
ambassador explained.
Speaking of relations between China and Southeast Asia, Zhang
specified respect, friendship and cooperation as eternal themes
shared by both sides.
"A positive tendency of favorable interaction between political
trust and economic integration dominates our relations," he said,
adding that frequent and deepened dialogues in the political and
security areas have resulted in enhanced mutual trust and
productive cooperation between the two parties.
Aiming to consolidate the Strategic Partnership for Peace and
Prosperity between the two sides, China has inked a series of
treaties with the ASEAN or its members, and made joint efforts in
addressing non-traditional security issues such as
counter-terrorism, illegal immigration, narcotics control, law
enforcement and criminal investigation.
The two sides have also set up ministerial cooperation
mechanisms in foreign affairs, economy, transportation, customs,
attorney generals as well as youth affairs, and strengthened their
collaborations in areas like finance, agriculture, tourism and
education, to name just a few.
Zhang especially hailed the strategic decision to build
China-ASEAN Free Trade Area by leaders of China and ASEAN states as
timely and far-sighted.
He said bilateral trade between China and the ASEAN hit US$105.9
billion in 2004, up 35 percent over the previous year, while its
annual increase rate of 20 percent since 1990 is much faster than
China's trade with other major partners.
As China's fifth largest export market and fourth largest import
source, the ASEAN has enjoyed the positions of being China's fifth
largest trading partner for five consecutive years and its largest
trading partner in the developing world, he added.
"The two sides need to go for mutual respect rather than
confrontation, mutual trust rather than suspicion, mutual
cooperation rather than vicious competition, and a win-win result
rather than prosperity at the expense of others," stressed the
ambassador.?
(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2005)
