Premier Urges Efforts to Promote Asia-Europe Cooperation

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Premier Urges Efforts to Promote Asia-Europe Cooperation

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Zhu Rongji Attends Asem

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji Monday called on governments in Asia and the European Union (EU) to promote political consultations and expand economic and trade cooperation to ensure peace, stability and development in the two regions.

He made the appeal in a speech delivered at the two-day fourth ASEM summit which will conclude on Sept. 24. The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which consists of 10 Asian countries including China, Japan and South Korea, the EU's 15 member countries and theEU's executive arm, the European Commission, is an instrument of informal dialogue between Asian and European leaders launched in 1996 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Zhu told leaders attending the biennial event it was necessary for the Asian and EU governments to increase political dialogues and consultations, particularly in fighting terrorism, which is a common threat to world peace and development. He also called for a strengthened role of the United Nations in the anti-terrorism war,as well as efforts to promote economic development in order to eliminate poverty, the root cause of terrorism.

Meanwhile, Zhu urged efforts to expand inter-regional economic and trade cooperation, proposing to further free trade, increase cooperation among small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthen hi-tech cooperation and carry out joint research projects in such frontier fields as IT, biotechnology and renewable energies.

In addition, Zhu said, the two sides should step up policy coordination on international trade to prevent a comeback of protectionism of all kinds and should endeavor to achieve an all-win outcome of the new round of global multilateral trade negotiations.

For the sake of sustainable development, the Chinese Premier said the countries should enhance cooperation on environmental protection and agriculture. And it was also important to promote personnel training and strengthen cooperation in capacity building, especially in human resources development.

Zhu said it was necessary to set up and improve inter-regional political consultation mechanisms at different levels to increase coordination and cooperation in international affairs. He also stressed the need to promote exchanges between the Asian and European civilizations, adding that this would help enhance mutual understanding, bring down barriers and defuse conflicts.

After the fourth ASEM summit, the Chinese Premier is scheduled to attend the fifth China-EU Summit and pay an official visit to Denmark, which is the second leg of his current three-nation European tour.

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