A senior Panamanian parliament member yesterday pledged to make continuous efforts for the normalization of relations between China and Panama.
"The Taiwan question is China's internal affair and should be settled by the Chinese people," said second vice-chairperson of the Panamanian Parliament Susana Richa, when meeting yesterday with Zeng Jianhui, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.
Richa is currently on a visit to China at the invitation of Zeng's committee.
Li Peng, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, is expected to meet with her today.
The Taiwan question is the only barrier to the normalization of bilateral relations between China and Panama, Zeng said.
China appreciates the Panamanian Parliament's decision in May not to support Taiwan's efforts to participate in the World Health Organization, he added.
Zeng said China attaches importance to developing relations with Panama, although the country has not established diplomatic ties with China.
He added that bilateral personnel exchanges have been expanded and economic relations have developed fast since the two countries set up their trade representative offices.
Bilateral trade volume has exceeded US$1 billion for the past four years, not including Panamanian trade with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which hit US$1.24 billion last year, statistics show.
China is now the third biggest user of the Panama Canal with over 300 Chinese vessels passing through every year.
Panama has invested in 287 projects in China involving a contractual value of US$1.35 billion and China has already set up 17 enterprises in Panama.
Zeng said the two economies have large room for cooperation. However, he said bilateral trade has been hampered without normalized relations.
Zeng said parliamentary exchanges between the two countries have played an important role in strengthening mutual understanding, promoting cooperation and pushing the development of bilateral relations.
This is the fourth Panamanian Parliament delegation that has visited China since 1998.
(China Daily July 9, 2002)
