5th APEC Ministerial Meeting of Telecommunication and Information Opens

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, May 30, 2002

5th APEC Ministerial Meeting of Telecommunication and Information Opens

The fifth APEC Ministerial Meeting of Telecommunication and Information Industries (TELMIN5) opened Wednesday in Shanghai, this coastal industrial and financial center in East China.

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The fifth Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting of Telecommunication and Information Industries (TELMIN5) opened Wednesday in Shanghai, this coastal industrial and financial center in East China.

Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo said at the opening ceremony that the meeting should promote cooperation in telecommunication and information industries.

Wu said China, as a developing country, attached great importance to developing the telecommunication, electronic manufacturing and software industries, and telecommunication and information industries had constituted a pillar of China's economy.

Statistics show that China has 360 million fixed-line and mobile phone users as well as more than 38.5 million Internet surfers. Electronic manufacturing has become the largest industry in China.

In recent years, the Chinese government has reformed and restructured its telecommunications industry, and a total of six large telecommunications operating giants have been set up, optimizing resources and creating a fair and sound competitive environment for the information sector, he said.

Facing challenges and opportunities brought by information technology revolution, China is vowing to upgrade its traditional industries to accelerate social and economic development, he said.

He noted that Chinese electronic manufacturers had established a good partnership with multinational counterparts since the country adopted the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, stressing that "China will observe the WTO rules and fulfill its commitments to further cooperate with international peers".

China, with a great potential and bright future in the information industry, warmly welcomed APEC economies and enterprises worldwide to invest and launch joint ventures in China. It would also encourage local businesses to invest overseas, he noted.

Wu called on all APEC economies to join in leveling the economic imbalance between developed and developing economies. Developed economies should take concrete measures to help and support developing economies to facilitate information infrastructure construction.

China would join with other economies to establish effective cooperation, which was the key to "narrow the digital gap (between developing and developed countries)", Wu said.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Wu Jichuan, minister of the information industry.

The meeting will last two days, during which, two documents, the "Shanghai Declaration" and "Program of Action", are expected to be discussed and passed.

Backgrounder of APEC TELMIN

The previous four APEC TELMINs were held in the Republic of Korea, Australia, Singapore and Mexico.

At previous meetings, the ministers or representative in charge of information industry have held in-depth discussions on major policies and technical issues concerning the development of telecommunications and information industries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The four meetings have passed a number of guiding documents and put forward the long-term development objective of constructing the Asia-Pacific Information Society (APIS) and an Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure.

In 1990, the APEC telecommunications and information task force (APECTEL) was founded, with the aim of facilitating free trade in the telecommunications and coordinating relevant policies in the Asia-Pacific region.

The APECTEL holds two meetings every year and has so far convened 25 meetings.

Since its entry into APEC, China has always been active in participating in the APECTEL activities and it hosted the 12th meeting of the APECTEL in 1995.

In 2001, as the host of APEC series meetings, China proposed a special task force for e-APEC and completed the e-APEC strategy, thus boosting the growth of the new economy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Source: Xinhua

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