Premier Wen Jiabao and his Myanmar counterpart General Soe Win agreed yesterday to strengthen the bilateral economic partnership and boost co-operation in the fight against illegal drugs.

Wen said economic and trade ties are an important component of bilateral relations, and the two countries should increase co-operation in infrastructure and take measures to regulate trade activities in border areas.

Soe Win told Wen that the two countries should jointly fight against drugs and cross-border crime to maintain security in border areas.

The leaders met on the sidelines of the China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit yesterday in Nanning, capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Wen also held meetings with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh and Thailand's Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont.

ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a regional bloc comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Wen held one-on-one meetings with leaders of the other five countries on Monday.

When meeting new Thai Prime Minister Surayud, Wen said that China would continue to advance Sino-Thai friendship, and the two countries should draft an action plan for strategic co-operation.

Surayud, who became prime minister of Thailand this month after a bloodless coup, promised to adopt a friendly policy towards China and called for increased trade.

Wen and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal talked about the South China Sea issue, where the two have territorial disputes. China prefers to put aside disputes and seek common development, according to Wen, who called for the two sides to find effective ways to conduct joint co-operation in the area.

Economic co-operation was highlighted during Wen's talks with Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung.

Wen said that the two governments should start negotiations at an early date on an agreement on bilateral economic and trade partnership. They should also speed up talks on building a project known as the "two corridors and one circle."

The "two corridors" refer to the economic belt linking the cities of Kunming in Yunnan Province and Hanoi in Viet Nam, as well as that linking Nanning with Hanoi. The "one circle" means the Beibu Gulf economic area.

Nguyen Tan Dung said that Viet Nam wants to get support from China for infrastructure construction.

When Wen meet with Lao Prime Minister Bouasone, the two leaders agreed to step up co-operation on infrastructure, hydropower and mineral resources.

Addressing the business summit, Wen said: "The bilateral trade should not only be limited to traditional areas, and could cover value-added sectors like machinery, electronics and high-technology," .

"We should learn from each other and use each other's resources and technologies, and expand co-operation in areas like agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure."

Source: China Daily