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Zhu Hopes for Closer Cooperation with South Asian Countries
China Commends Most Outstanding Mothers
Calling South Asia an important region boasting a vast land area and a large population, visiting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji Saturday saw great potentials for China and countries in South Asia to further enhance their cooperation.
In his speech at a banquet hosted by Pakistani President Rafiq Tarar to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, Zhu said that South Asia was an important component of the world, boasting a vast land area of five million square kilometers and 1.3 billion diligent and talented people. In recent years, countries in this region have committed themselves to economic reform, restructuring and national revitalization and have made new headway in these aspects.
Zhu traced the traditional friendship between the two sides to the 1950s when statesmen from China, South Asia and other Asian countries jointly initiated the universally recognized Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
He noted that China and South Asia were close to each other geographically and had traditional political and economic relations, saying "we are all developing countries shouldering the historic mission of promoting the establishment of a new international political and economic order.
"The economies of China and South Asian countries are highly complementary to each other and enjoy great potentials and broad prospects for economic cooperation and trade," said Zhu.
Referring to the five-point proposal put forward by Chinese President Jiang Zemin during his visit to South Asia in 1996, Zhu reiterated China's positions for developing the good-neighborly friendship between China and South Asian countries, saying "China stands ready to continue to expand its friendly interflow with South Asian countries, step up its exchanges in the areas of economy, trade and technology, constantly enhance coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs and make unremitting efforts towards progress and prosperity in Asia and indeed across the world."
He also sincerely hoped that in the new century, countries in South Asia would live together in peace and amity, resolve differences appropriately, expand regional cooperation and realize common development.
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