Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said Bandar Seri Begawan Monday that China's entry to the World Trade Organization undoubtedly means more opportunities and wider room for cooperation with countries all over the world, other Asian countries in particular.
The Chinese premier made the remarks at the 5th leaders meeting between the ASEAN and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
He said that as China will very soon join the WTO, its opening to the outside world will assume even greater scope and depth. China has increasingly become an attractive and safe destination for investors and tourists.
He said that business communities of East Asian countries are welcome to invest in China and go in for economic and technological cooperation of various forms, and their peoples to enjoy China's beautiful scenery as they tour the country.
The premier also encouraged successful Chinese enterprises to invest abroad. He noted that thanks to the geographic advantages and economic complementary, East Asia will become a key region in China's overseas investment, economic cooperation and trade. China stands ready to make positive contributions to closer cooperation and greater common prosperity in this region, he added.
On the domestic economic situation, Zhu said that China has insisted on expanding domestic demand and managed to sustain a good growth momentum against the backdrop of conspicuous economic slowdown in the world since the beginning of this year.
He said China's GDP of the first three quarters of this year was up by 7.6 percent, and the annual growth rate is expected to top 7 percent. The Chinese economy has entered a new stage of development with the advent of the new century.
Zhu said China will work hard to restructure its economy, actively implement the strategies of "revitalizing the country through science and education" and "sustainable development," and accelerate the development of the western part of China.
China will also relentlessly press ahead with market-oriented economic reform and speed up institutional innovation, he noted, adding that a stable and more developed China is a major contribution to peace and development of this region and the world at large.
(Xinhua News Agency November 5,2001)
