The 5th ASEM Economic Ministers’ Meeting, which closed on July 24, passed the 5th ASEM Economic Ministers’ Meeting Chair Statement.

Mr. Lu Fuyuan, China’s commerce minister and chairperson of the meeting, met the press after the closing session, together with representatives from four ASEM coordinating nations.

Minister Lu said the results of the meeting sent a message to Cancun WTO Ministerial Conference that the ASEM member countries would try their best to promote the new round of trade talks while promising their strong support of Cancun Conference’s success.

At the press conference, Minister Lu also talked about the economic and trade situation of China. According to him, in the first half of this year, the growth of import far exceeded that of export, which may result in trade deficit. But Minister Lu also emphasized that China would continue reducing tariff to fulfill its promise to WTO.

“We’ve set the theme of promoting mutual development and expect the win-win result in trade, so we now still encourage import,” he said.

“China’s rapid development harbingers an expanding consumption market, which will provide more business opportunities for trade partners,” he added.

Talking about the possible adjustment of the value of renminbi, Mr. Lu said that the value of the yuan would remain stable at the current stage, though the possibility of adjusting the rate would not be ruled out in the future.

“Every economy will decide its currency value based mainly on its own economic situation, coupled with the global environment,” Lu said.

“In terms of China's current situation, we prefer keeping the currency value stable and do not want fluctuation in the value,” Lu went on.

“Many differences exist with the values of many different currencies such as the US dollar and euro. But they will make their own judgment according to their situation,” he added.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun, July 25, 2003)