Chinese premier, Myanmar PM hold talks

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) and his Myanmar counterpart Khin Nyunt review the guard of honor at the welcoming ceremony in Beijing July 12, 2004. Khin Nyunt arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a 7-day visit to China.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said that China is willing to deepen its cooperation with Myanmar in all fields to comprehensively promote the development of bilateral relations based on the principles of peaceful co-existence.

During talks with visiting Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt Monday in Beijing, Wen said consolidating traditional friendship and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation is the common aspiration of the two peoples and a common goal of the two governments.

With China and Myanmar enjoying longstanding "paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship, Wen said China is willing to expand co-operation in all sectors.

Bilateral exchanges are necessary in today's world as the international situation gets more complex and unstable, the premier said.

The premier promised China will provide economic assistance to Myanmar so it can improve its capacity for self-development. He suggests the two sides further expand their trade and select more cooperative projects.

Wen expressed his appreciation to Myanmar for its effective cooperation in cracking down on drug trafficking, and hopes the two countries will set up a cooperation mechanism on border administration to deal with transnational crime.

Khin Nyunt agreed with the Chinese premier's proposals, and hopes both countries can focus on cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, industry, telecommunications, mining and agriculture.

Wen also stressed what occurs in Myanmar is internal affairs of Myanmar and should be settled by the Myanmar Government and people. But he said China hopes Myanmar can make efforts in speeding up political settlements of existing disputes and move toward democratic progress so as to enhance stability and peaceful development.

Nyunt said his government will continue to promote the road map for democratic progress and to achieve national unity and political stability.

After their talks, the two leaders attended the signing ceremony of 11 documents on economic and technological co-operation.

The agreements are mostly concerned with trade, energy, mineral exploration, telecommunications and other industrial fields, according to Foreign Ministry officials.

By People's Daily Online