ASEAN Secretary-general on Sino-ASEAN Relations

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, August 19, 2003

ASEAN Secretary-general on Sino-ASEAN Relations

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ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said Tuesday in Wuyishan that the relationship between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has advanced to a new level and the two sides have had constructive cooperation on economic as well as political issues.

Ong was speaking at the conclusion of the two-day Ninth China-ASEAN Senior Officials' Consultation in east China's Fujian province.

On the subject of China's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia at the upcoming leaders meeting between ASEAN and China (10+1) in Bali, Indonesia in October, Ong said that "China's move is trail blazing."

"It will be a good signal to everybody in the world that China and ASEAN are friendly neighbors and are working together," he said.

The treaty lays down the framework for ASEAN members to jointly maintain regional peace and stability. China will become the first to join among all the large countries outside of southeast Asia.

China's accession shows that China has agreed with ASEAN on the values embodied in the treaty, Ong said. Such an action will basically remove many of the concerns on the political side, improve the two sides' political trust and lay a solid foundation for further economic cooperation.

On the trade and economic cooperation between China and ASEAN, Ong said the two sides are highly complementary in economic development. As the China-ASEAN free trade area begins to be set up, China and ASEAN will open more sectors to each other to increase business and trade exchanges, he said.

He expressed the belief that the ASEAN countries will benefit from China's growing economy as long as they take advantage of it.

"We've already seen China's steady increasing investment in southeast Asia year by year and Chinese companies are setting up headquarters in the region," he said.

Moreover, he said, southeast Asian countries are very resource-based and China is a good consumer with great market potential.

"We are convinced that as China's economy grows, the country will import more and more goods and materials from the ASEAN nations," Secretary-General Ong said.

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