Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Kyoto Friday China is willing to contribute to closer cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan and South Korea.  

Li Zhaoxing made the remarks at an informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the 10-member ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea (10+3).

It is in the interest of all parties concerned to maintain the cooperation momentum of the 10+3 mechanism, which has become one of the most successful and vigorous mechanisms for regional cooperation, said Li.

ASEAN, established in 1967, groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

On the East Asia Summit (EAS), Li said the summit meeting is set to contribute to cooperation between East Asian countries and further development of the 10+3 mechanism.

China respects ASEAN's consensus on the summit and supports a leading role by the regional grouping in deciding which countries outside the framework can join the meeting, Li said.

ASEAN foreign ministers agreed last month in the Philippines that the first meeting of East Asia Summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur at the end of this year among countries that can maintain close dialogue with ASEAN, agree to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and have substantive relationships with ASEAN in politics, economics, culture and other fields.

At the meeting, the foreign ministers also exchanged views on UN reform and the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula before joining their European counterparts for the Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) for Foreign Ministers, which opened here Friday evening.

(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2005)