Symposium marking ASEAN-China dialogue held in Singapore

Chinese and Southeast Asian experts and scholars gathered Monday for a commemorative symposium to mark the 15th anniversary of their dialogue relations, regarding China's development as an opportunity rather than a threat to the region.

The one-day symposium was themed "The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)- China relations: harmony and development".

"The ASEAN and China are playing the supporting and complementary role in each other's socio-economic development and in maintaining peace and stability in the region," said ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong.

He added the region bloc views the fast growth of China and its development as a positive phenomenon spurring the ASEAN to integrate economically in a faster pace.

He believed that both sides could tap on the complementarities for mutual gains.

Cooperation between the ASEAN and China has developed in breadth and depth, covering various areas of collaboration, in political and security, economics and trade, socio-culture and people-to-people interaction, he said.

Especially in economic cooperation, total trade between the ASEAN and China grew by 27 percent from 89 billion U.S. dollars in 2004 to 113 billion dollars in 2005.

The contribution of total ASEAN-China trade to the total ASEAN trade with the world also increased from 8.3 percent to 9.3 percent in the same period, according to the ASEAN's statistics.

Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education and Manpower of Singapore, praised China's role in helping the region's economies develop.

He said that the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a key driver of regional integration, adding that China is now one of the top trading partners for Singapore and his country will continue to do its part to contribute toward the deepening of this partnership.

Leaders of China and the ASEAN gathered in Nanning in late October to cerebrate the 15th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue partnership.

The October's summit released subsequently a joint statement, which was described by Chinese Ambassador for Singapore Zhang Yun as "a course for the future development of the relations between the both sides."

He noted that the clou of the joint statement coincided with the theme of this symposium.

"Harmony and development are the most precious experience in the friendly cooperation between China and the ASEAN, and they are also a major guarantee for sustainable and sound development of our future relations," he said.

He stressed that what China pursues is common development and an optimized regional framework of harmony and cooperation.

"China is willing to join hands with the ASEAN and other countries concerned to further promote East Asian cooperation and spread benefits to all parties," he said.

He pointed out that it is China's long-term foreign policy to promote good-neighborly and friendly cooperation and consolidate strategic partnership with the ASEAN countries.

Experts and scholars from Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore and China also delivered themselves of comments on the relations between China and the ASEAN, regarding China's development as an opportunity rather than a threat to the region.

Source: Xinhua