China is ready to work together with the Andean Community in reinforcing the mutually beneficial cooperation with the community, Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong said Thursday in Lima.

Zeng said in a meeting with Secretary-General of the Andean Community Harlan Wagner Tizon and foreign ministers of the bloc's five member states that China is willing to reinforce cooperation with the community by following a pro-active policy, giving priority to key points and practical effect and pushing forward the cooperation step by step, he said.

This was the highest-level meeting between China and the South American group since the two sides inked an agreement on the establishment of a mechanism of political consultation and cooperation in 2000.

Zeng said China highly values the mechanism of political consultation and cooperation between China and the community that includes Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia.

Noting that the community has played a positive role in maintaining the integrity of the Andean region and South America as a whole, Zeng said the ties between China and the community have been advancing smoothly in recent years.

Zeng suggested that the two sides put emphasis on cooperation in the fields of telecommunications, natural resources and infrastructure and on increasing understanding of each other's markets and investment environment.

He also proposed closer cooperation between the two sides in product quality control and quarantine, the fight against drug trafficking, poverty relief and personnel training.

The five foreign ministers gave positive comments on the community's cooperation with China in various sectors, stressing that the cooperation is of great significance to the establishment of a new international political and economic order and to the promotion of multilateralism.

They stated that China's rapid economic development does not pose a threat to the world including the Andean Community, but is instead an opportunity for them.

Applauding Zeng's proposals, they said there exists huge potential for bilateral cooperation and hoped that the ties between the two sides in the political, trade, cultural, scientific and social sectors will be reinforced.

The foreign ministers voiced their support for the one-China policy and the Chinese government's policy on the Taiwan issue.

Zeng arrived Wednesday in Peru, the second leg of his five-nation tour of Latin America and the Caribbean that will also take him to Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

Zeng is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the first ministerial-level meeting of the China-Caribbean Economy and Trade Cooperation Forum 2005 on Feb. 2 in Kingston, capital of Jamaica.