Backgrounder: Pacific Islands Forum

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is to attend the opening ceremony of the first China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum to be held in Fiji on April 5-6.

The following is a brief introduction to the Pacific Islands Forum.

Under the initiative of New Zealand, Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Tonga and Western Samoa (now Samoa) met in Wellington, capital of New Zealand on Aug. 5-7, 1971, formally establishing the South Pacific Islands Forum.

The meeting was stemmed from a desire by the country's leaders to address common issues from a regional perspective and to give their collective views greater weight in the international community.

The South Pacific Islands Forum, a regional intergovernmental organization, changed its name to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) on Oct. 27, 2000.

The forum is designed to enhance cooperation and coordination among members in the sectors of trade, economic development, aviation, shipping, telecommunication, energy, tourism, education, and in other issues of common concern.

For the past years, the forum has also focused on coordination of foreign policy in the fields of politics, security and regional cooperation.

The founding member countries have since been joined by Niue, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated State of Micronesia and Palau.

Forum leaders meet annually in formal session, and at a Leaders' Retreat which provides an opportunity for private and frank discussions at the highest level.

The heads of government meeting is followed by discussions which are also attended by delegations from China, the United States, Canada, Japan and Britain. They discuss issues of exchange and cooperation.

Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Xu Mingyuan was invited to attend discussions on setting up a dialogue mechanism in 1988. Since 1990, China has participated in discussions enhancing ties with the forum and its members.

At the dialogue of the 17th forum session in October 2005, Chinese delegate, vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi initiated the establishment of the China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum, aimed at strengthening cooperation between China and the Pacific Island countries in the fields of environmental protection, tourism, law, education, health care, agriculture and fishery.