Distinguished Guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen, Friends,
First of all, please
allow me to offer warm congratulations on the success of the
Third ASEM Foreign Ministers’
Meeting.
This is the first meeting of Asian and
European foreign ministers in the new century. The
participating parties have conducted in-depth discussions in
an atmosphere of friendship and equality on three topics,
namely political dialogue, economic cooperation and trade
and cultural exchanges, and reached broad consensus on
relevant regional and international issues. This
meeting has helped Asia and Europe to enjoy stronger
partnership, closer cooperation and enlarged common ground.
It marks a good beginning for Asia-Europe
cooperation in the new century and is of vital significance
to the furtherance of such cooperation.
The
world is undergoing profound changes. The rapid
advancement of science and technology, marked acceleration
of economic globalization, stepped-up economic restructuring
and continued expansion of international trade and
investment have brought new opportunities to the development
of all countries and regions. Meanwhile, economic
globalization has also magnified the risks of global
economic operation, given rise to trade protectionism and
widened the wealth gap between the North and the South as
well as the “digital divide”.
Therefore, it is essential for countries in Asia
and Europe to follow the trend of global development and
make vigorous efforts to meet the challenges and risks so as
to pursue greater development.
There is no
conflict of fundamental interests between Asia and Europe.
In fact, they hold identical or similar views on
many major international issues. Countries on
these two continents are all committed to safeguarding world
peace and regional stability. They respect
diversity of the world and believe that their relations
should be based on mutual respect and the principle of
seeking common ground while shelving differences.
They are highly complementary in the economic
field and trade, and they stand for closer cooperation.
In the new century, Asian and
European countries hold out tremendous potential and broad
prospects for increased political dialogue, economic
cooperation and cultural exchanges. We should
intensify consultations on regional and international issues
and the UN affairs, step up cooperation in such fields as
the economy, trade, banking, science and technology,
environmental protection, culture and education, and
strengthen coordination in the fight against international
organized crime and illegal immigration. Extensive
cooperation will not only facilitate the development of
Asian and European countries, but also contribute to greater
equilibrium in international relations and the establishment
of a more balanced international political and economic
order.
China’s development and its
prospects have all along attracted world attention.
I had in-depth talks with leaders and businessmen
of many countries at the ASEM summits held in London and
Seoul respectively. Over the past 20 years and
more since reform and opening-up, China has scored
tremendous achievements in its economic and social
development, attaining the strategic objectives for the
second stage of its modernization drive and enabling its
people as a whole to live a fairly comfortable
life.
China has recently formulated a plan for
the economic and social development for the first five years
of the new century, kicking off its march toward the
third-stage strategic objective of achieving basic
modernization by the middle of this century. Since
the beginning of this year, China's national economy has
maintained a sound momentum for development despite of the
world economic slowdown. We will adhere to the
policy of expanding the domestic demand, continue to adopt
the pro-active fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy,
press ahead with the strategic readjustment of the economic
structure and implement the strategies of developing the
western regions, rejuvenating the nation through science and
education, and sustainable development. All these
will give impetus to sustained and fairly rapid growth of
the national economy. At the same time, we will
continue to deepen our reform, open wider to the outside
world, and take an active part in international economic
cooperation and competition. China is a developing
country with a population of over 1.2 billion and has a huge
latitude and potential for economic development, so it will
surely overcome all difficulties ahead and continue to score
new achievements.
China pursues an independent
foreign policy of peace. It has taken an active
part in the Asia-Europe cooperation process. We
hope to see ASEM meetings play a bigger role in the
prosperity of the two continents. The Third ASEM
Summit, which was held last October, laid important
groundwork for Asia-Europe cooperation in the new century.
The Chinese Government is ready to work together
with all parties concerned to promote further development of
Asia-Europe cooperation, safeguard world peace, stability
and prosperity and make greater contribution to the
development and progress of mankind.
Thank you.
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