About 230 business people, officials and scholars gathered in Shanghai Saturday night for the focus of "China factor" in Asian economic growth and cooperation.

On the sideline of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Asian-pacific Business Forum aims to strengthen regional economic cooperation and promote common development.

Participants will discuss topics concerning Asia-Pacific economic development, financial cooperation in the region and the influence China has brought about in recent years.

Asia-Pacific region has achieved sustained economic growth amid ups and downs in the past decade. The aggregate Gross Domestic Product of ESCAP members managed to occupy 70 percent of the world total.

As the largest developing country in the world and a member of ESCAP, China is rising peacefully, said Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice-minister of the State Development and Reform Commission, at the opening ceremony of the forum.

The development of the Asia-Pacific region has brought opportunities to China, while China's development also brings a larger market and more business opportunities to this region, he said.

Kim Hak-Su, executive secretary of the ESCAP, said he hoped that the forum could provide a network for communications between private entrepreneurs and state owned enterprises from various countries.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2004)