China will continue promoting all-round cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for mutual benefit, Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Zhang Yun told Xinhua on Thursday. 

The ambassador elaborated on China's Asia policy and the impacts China's development has had on Asia, with Southeast Asia in particular, in recent years.

"China's Asia policy is to 'build good-neighborly relations and partnerships with its neighbors' and to 'secure an amicable, tranquil and prosperous neighborhood'," the ambassador said.

He added that China has always integrated its own interests with those of other Asian countries in an effort to embark on a win-win road of cooperation together with these countries.     

He said China's development has promoted peace and stability in Asia and injected new impetus into regional cooperation.

China, as a large potential market in the world, has created great opportunities for Asia in terms of importation, direct investment and tourism, he added.

In 2003, China's import of goods from other Asian countries and regions registered US$272.9 billion, he said, adding that its direct investment in Asian countries has maintained a 20 percent annual growth rate on an average in recent years.

Among the 29 million Chinese people who went abroad in 2004, a great proportion picked Asian countries and regions as their first choice of destination.

"Along with China's development, its market scale and investment abroad will further expand, more Chinese people will go to other parts of Asia for traveling, business and visits, and China's economy will become further integrated with the Asian economy, shaping a new type of cooperative relationship characterized by mutual benefit, complementary and mutual assistance," the ambassador explained.

Speaking of relations between China and Southeast Asia, Zhang specified respect, friendship and cooperation as eternal themes shared by both sides.

"A positive tendency of favorable interaction between political trust and economic integration dominates our relations," he said, adding that frequent and deepened dialogues in the political and security areas have resulted in enhanced mutual trust and productive cooperation between the two parties.

Aiming to consolidate the Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity between the two sides, China has inked a series of treaties with the ASEAN or its members, and made joint efforts in addressing non-traditional security issues such as counter-terrorism, illegal immigration, narcotics control, law enforcement and criminal investigation.

The two sides have also set up ministerial cooperation mechanisms in foreign affairs, economy, transportation, customs, attorney generals as well as youth affairs, and strengthened their collaborations in areas like finance, agriculture, tourism and education, to name just a few.

Zhang especially hailed the strategic decision to build China-ASEAN Free Trade Area by leaders of China and ASEAN states as timely and far-sighted.

He said bilateral trade between China and the ASEAN hit US$105.9 billion in 2004, up 35 percent over the previous year, while its annual increase rate of 20 percent since 1990 is much faster than China's trade with other major partners.

As China's fifth largest export market and fourth largest import source, the ASEAN has enjoyed the positions of being China's fifth largest trading partner for five consecutive years and its largest trading partner in the developing world, he added.

"The two sides need to go for mutual respect rather than confrontation, mutual trust rather than suspicion, mutual cooperation rather than vicious competition, and a win-win result rather than prosperity at the expense of others," stressed the ambassador. 

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2005)