The sixth ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum) inter-sessional meeting on disaster relief, co-chaired by China and Indonesia, ended on Wednesday in Qingdao, a major port city in East China's Shandong Province

It is the first time China has hosted an inter-sessional ARF meeting.

China submitted draft guiding principles for disaster relief cooperation among ARF members. It also provided a series of tables illustrating how ARF members build up disaster relief resources.

During the three-day meeting which started on September 18, the participants discussed how to share disaster relief resources and how to coordinate disaster response. They also reviewed current ARF disaster relief cooperation, highlighting key topics.

Wang Zhenyao, director of the disaster relief department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Primo Alui Joelianto, director-general of the Asia-Pacific and African Affairs Department of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry co-chaired the meeting. Senior officials responsible for foreign affairs, national defense and disaster relief attended.

At the opening ceremony, Li Liguo, vice minister of China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, said that the disasters that have struck China this year have been the worst of the 21st century. The Chinese government is keen to increase the nation's capacity to prevent, reduce and relieve disasters so as to protect the life, security and property of its people.

Li said China is ready to share successful experiences with other ARF members and hopes to establish a disaster relief coordination mechanism.

The ARF, established in 1994, is the main official multilateral dialogue channel on political and security issues in the region. Its 26 members include the 10 ASEAN member states, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Canada, the European Union, India, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

Source: Xinhua