President's visits to G8, Sweden 'very productive'

President Hu Jintao's participation at the outreach session of the G8 summit and his state visit to Sweden have promoted effective dialogue, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said yesterday.

Talking to the Chinese media, Yang said they were major diplomatic events of the year during which Hu expounded China's position on such major international issues as climate change many a time. He exchanged views with leaders of Sweden, the G8 and other developing countries, and put forward a series of proposals.

At the meeting of the "outreach five" (China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa) at the G8 summit, he proposed South-South coordination to promote more unity and better cooperation among the developing countries. Developing countries should continue to work to set up a sound international economic order, he said.

They should adopt development strategies and policies that suit their respective national conditions and speed up economic development. The industrialized world, in turn, should increase its assistance, reduce and cancel debts, open its markets and transfer more technologies to the developing countries.

The international community, he said, should promote a balanced and stable growth of the world economy. It ought to reduce imbalances by increasing domestic demand, cutting fiscal deficit, expediting structural change and accelerating institutional reform.

The North-South divide should be narrowed down, he said, and sustainable development achieved by striking a balance between economic growth, social progress and environmental protection.

Hu's systematic elaboration of China's position on climate change helped the international community understand the country's strategy toward sustainable development. Climate change may be an environmental issue, but in essence it is a development matter that should be resolved in the context of sustainable development, he said.

Urging all countries to adhere to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" in accordance with the UN convention on climate change, he said China has strengthened its law-making and enforcement efforts to tackle climate change.

During the outreach session, he had in-depth discussions with 12 foreign leaders on a broad range of issues. They agreed to have more political dialogues, and strengthen mutually beneficial economic cooperation, cultural exchanges and coordination on global affairs.

He also discussed major global and regional matters, such as the Korean Peninsula and Iranian nuclear issues and the Darfur and Kosovo questions, with the world's top leaders.

His visit to Sweden, the first by a Chinese head of state since the two countries established diplomatic ties 57 years ago, strengthened bilateral relations.

Source: China Daily/Xinhua