Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday put forward a three-point proposal on the direction of East Asia cooperation at the 2nd East Asia Summit in Cebu, the second largest city of the Philippines.

In a speech, Wen said East Asia cooperation should enhance common development and prosperity of the region.

"We should start such cooperation in areas in which the parties have extensive common interests and consensus. Priority should be given to sharing development practice and advanced information and other technologies to enable the participating countries to benefit from cooperation and thus build up confidence in and momentum of cooperation," he said.

"We should ensure that East Asia cooperation grows in a balanced way and brings benefits to all, so that we can, through practical cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels, build strong economic and trade linkages and put in place a cooperation framework based on mutual benefit and drawing on mutual strength," he added.

East Asia cooperation should lead to harmony among all countries in the region, the Chinese premier said.

"We should create a new community of common destiny whose members enjoy common development in times of peace and meet challenges together in times of crisis," said the Chinese premier.

The goal of East Asia cooperation is to promote peace, stability and development of the region. "To achieve this goal, we should foster a regional security environment of mutual trust and endure stability by bridging differences through dialogue on an equal footing and resolving disputes through friendly consultation," he said.

East Asia cooperation should respect diversified development of social systems and cultures, the premier said.

"We should bear in mind the particular national conditions of and uneven development in East Asian countries, respect each other and accommodate the needs and capabilities of different countries and advance cooperation step by step," he said.

East Asia cooperation should be open. Participation by countries and organizations outside the region should be welcome to widen the scope and reinforce the foundation of the cooperation, he added.

"China supports ASEAN in continuing to play a leading role in East Asia cooperation," Wen pledged

The 2nd East Asia summit opened Monday in Cebu. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and leaders of the 10 ASEAN member countries, and those of Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand attended the summit.

With energy security, finance, education, avian influenza and disaster reduction topping the agenda of the 2nd East Asia Summit, the Chinese premier expounded China's position and expressed willingness to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the above areas.

Wen also elaborated China's stance on sticking to the path of peaceful development, saying that development was China's central task.

"China needs peace, friends and cooperation," Wen said.

China will expand trade and investment in other Asian countries and provide them with more assistance. China would also work to combine its and the common interests of other Asian countries more closely, he said.

He reiterated that China's policy of good-neighborliness and friendship would remain unchanged.

"We will continue to promote friendship and partnership with our neighbors to foster an amicable, peaceful and prosperous neighborhood and work with other countries to turn Asia into a harmonious, prosperous and beautiful home for us all," he added.

Leaders of other participating countries also expounded their stances on the main themes of the summit.

The Cebu Declaration on East Asia Energy Cooperation was signed and released at the summit.

The Chinese premier and other leaders also attended the presentation by Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda on East Asian economic and financial situations.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), established in 1967 in Bangkok, groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The first East Asia Summit, attended by leaders of the 10 ASEAN member countries and those of ASEAN's six dialogue partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand - took place in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 14, 2005.

The 2nd East Asia Summit, scheduled on Dec. 14, 2006, was postponed to January due to the devastating typhoon Utor, which ripped through the island country.

Source: Xinhua