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China -- Only Bright Spot in Global Economy: Singapore Minister
Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry said Monday that China is the only bright spot in the scenario of the global economic downturn and its growth has positive impact on the region.
"The only bright spot is China," the minister said in his key-note speech delivered at the opening of the 6th Asia-Europe Business Forum here Monday after saying that the slowdown of the US economy has dragged down the rest of the world and the September 11 incident in the U.S. has probably tipped the whole world into recession.
"China is now entering a phase of self-sustaining organic development," Yeo said, adding "with high savings, high investment in productive capacity and growing domestic consumption, China is expected to grow at seven percent for the next five years despite the global economic downturn," Yeo told the more than two hundred delegates and participants from 25 ASEM countries.
The minister pointed out that "the overall impact of China's growth on the region is a positive one." "Historically, a prosperous China brought prosperity to Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia," he noted.
Commenting on China's upcoming entry into WTO, he underscored that "China's entry into the WTO opens a new era of economic integration in East Asia."
"The ASEAN plus 3 (China, Japan and South Korea) format of meetings is a new institutional arrangement for East Asia which is of historical importance," he said.
Touching on the relationship between China and ASEAN, Yeo said that the proposal for a FTA (Free Trade Area) with ASEAN for the long term put forth by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji at the ASEAN plus 3 Summit last year was "a significant political move by China."
The ASEAN economic ministers, meeting in Hanoi last month, have decided to respond positively to China's proposal and recommend constructive ways for the leaders of China and Southeast Asian countries to take this forward when they meet in Brunei in November.
The AEBF, one of the first initiatives launched at the inaugural ASEM Summit in Bangkok in March 1996, was created as a multilateral mechanism to enhance economic cooperation between the two regions.
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