Chinese premier leaves for South Asia
5/4/2005 17:19
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao left Beijing Tuesday on an official visit to
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India with the aim of increasing trust,
friendship and cooperation with China's southern neighbors.
The visit, to
last until April 12, is intended "to increase trust, deepen friendship, expand
cooperation and map out future development with its southern neighbors," Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said earlier.
China has described its
relationship with Pakistan as "all- weather, all-around cooperative
partnership."
Wen is expected to meet with Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, address a China- Pakistan business
forum and the foundation-laying ceremony of the Pakistan-China friendship center
in Islamabad. And the two countries are expected to sign a number of documents
during Wen's stay in Pakistan.
The visit to Pakistan will "further strengthen
the all-weather and time-tested friendship and strategic partnership between
Pakistan and China," Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said
on Monday.
Establishing a direct airline between Dhaka and Kunming will be
conferred during Wen's visit to Bangladesh, according to Bangladeshi Ambassador
to China Ashfaqur Rahman.
The airline from Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, to
Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, will be the first direct
air link between the two countries.
Besides the Dhaka-Kunming air route, a
couple of agreements and memorandums of understanding in various fields are
expected to be inked during the visit.
In Sri Lanka, Wen is expected to visit
some areas hit by the tsunami last December, according to Sri Lankan Ambassador
to China Nihal Rodrigo.
"Hopefully a number of agreements will be signed, one
on expansion of economic relations, and possibly a cultural agreement, " said
Rodrigo. "What we really expect is the complete consolidation of the existing
relationship, strengthening areas like the fishery industry and seeking other
means to develop our economic relationship, such as tourism."
China and India
may touch upon the border issue during Wen's visit to India, his last leg of the
trip. An issue left over from history, the border issue "does not hinder the
overall development of Sino-Indian friendship and cooperation," a senior Chinese
diplomat said.
Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said China and India
have held four meetings within the special representative consultation
mechanism, and the fifth meeting is expected to be held during Wen's visit to
India. The two sides may reach consensus during the meeting, said Wu.
Indian
Ambassador to China Nalin Surie said China and India can be friends, competitors
and cooperative partners.
"Our two countries are in the process of
rediscovering each other," he said, calling upon the peoples of the two
countries to promote exchanges.
Besides meeting with Indian leaders, Wen will
also visit an IT center in India, give a speech in New Delhi and attend the
inauguration of the China Culture Month in India.
In 2004, China's trade
volume with India was US$13.604 billion, up 79.1 percent from a year
earlier.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Premier will attend the opening ceremony of
the fourth Foreign Ministers' Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Islamabad
on April 6, at which he will deliver a keynote speech.
Wen's entourage
includes Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Minister of Education Zhou Ji, Minister
of Commerce Bo Xilai, Director of the Research Office of the State Council Wei
Liqun, among others.
Xinhua
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