FM: Hu's visit a diplomatic milestone
(Xinhua) Updated: 2006-11-27 06:58
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Sunday hailed President Hu Jintao's
Asian tour as a new milestone in efforts to foster friendly relations with
neighboring countries, saying remarkable successes had been achieved during the
visit.
Pakistan's
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz (R) bids farewell to China's President Hu
Jintao (C) at Lahore airport in Lahore November 26, 2006. Chinese
President Hu ended a four-day visit to Pakistan on Sunday during which he
promised to work with Islamabad to elevate strategic ties to "a new high"
and strengthen trade and economic cooperation. [Xinhua]
| President Hu's four-nation
tour has deepened the friendship with these countries, enhanced their mutual
trust, expanded mutually beneficial cooperation and helped chart the course for
further development of the relationships between them, Li told Chinese reporters
accompanying Hu on his way back home from the 12-day trip.
During the
tour, the Chinese president attended the 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, and then paid state visits
to Vietnam, Laos, India and Pakistan.
On the sidelines of the APEC
meeting and during his state visits, President Hu conducted in-depth,
substantial and friendly talks with foreign leaders, exchanging views on
bilateral ties and international and regional issues of common concern and
expounding on China's policies on Asia-Pacific cooperation, the Chinese top
diplomat said.
The tour also witnessed the signing of 54 documents on
cooperation between China and other countries in various fields and the
publication of five joint statements and declarations, the minister
said.
At APEC's meeting, Hu put forward a blueprint for building a
harmonious Asia-Pacific region and realizing common prosperity, Li
said.
The president stressed APEC should focus its efforts on promoting
economic cooperation while supporting the development of the multi-bilateral
trading system, Li said.
In making new endeavors to promote economic and
technological cooperation, Hu said, APEC should strive to realize the Bogor
goals, which were adopted by APEC leaders at their 1994 meeting in Bogor,
Indonesia, with an aim to achieve free and open trade and investment in the
Asia-Pacific region by 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing
ones, according to the minister.
During the APEC meeting, Hu also reached
common ground with leaders of the United States, Russia, Japan, South Korea,
Australia and Chile on ways to further develop bilateral ties, Li
said.
On the nuclear issues of the Korean Peninsula and Iran, Hu made
clear China's stance on peacefully resolving the issues through diplomatic
means.
All the four nations President Hu visited are China's important
neighbors, Li said. To consolidate and advance good-neighborly and friendly
relations with them is of great significance to China's efforts to create a good
surrounding environment, conduct cooperation of mutual benefit and achieve
common development. It is also of great importance to safeguard and promote
peace and development in Asia as a whole, the minister added.
During his
visits to these countries, President Hu expounded on his proposals for the
strategic and long-term development of bilateral relations, which gained
positive responses from his hosts and enhanced political trust between China and
those countries, Li said.
Noting economic and trade cooperation is a key
component of China's relationships with the four countries, Li said President Hu
had discussed the issue with the leaders and several relevant agreements were
signed during his visits.
-- China and Vietnam signed a number of
cooperation documents during the visit, marking out the framework of bilateral
economic cooperation in the next 5 to 10 years. The two sides agreed to promote
cooperation in big projects, expand bilateral trade and work together to push
forward the trade and investment negotiations between China and the ASEAN free
trade zone.
-- China and Laos pledged to expand bilateral trade and
enhance cooperation in the fields of investment, communications, transportation,
infrastructure, energy and mining.
-- China and India signed a pact on
investment promotion and protection, agreeing to strengthen mutually beneficial
cooperation in the areas of information and communication technology, energy,
infrastructure, science and technology and agriculture. The two sides also set a
target of raising the annual volume of their bilateral trade to 40 billion U.S.
dollars by 2010.
-- China and Pakistan signed a free trade agreement
(FTA) that is projected to triple their current bilateral trade to 15 billion
dollars within five years and to promote bilateral cooperation in agriculture,
transportation, energy, finance and information industry.
The Chinese
people and the peoples of the four countries are good neighbors, good friends
and good partners, cherishing the common aspirations for deepening their
friendship, Li said.
President Hu's four-nation Asian tour marks a new
milestone on the road of good-neighborliness between China and these
countries,he said.
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