During a meeting with Khin Nyunt, first secretary of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Luo urged that trade and cooperation be strengthened along the Sino-Myanmar border.

Khin Nyunt is accompanying Than Shwe, chairman of Myanmar's SPDC, who arrived in Beijing Monday for a six-day state visit as guest of Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

The heads of state of both countries had reached a series of consensus on developing long-term, good-neighborly friendly cooperation, Luo said, providing a new impetus to the all-around growth in Sino-Myanmar ties.

The Sino-Myanmar border had always been a friendship link, he said. The dedicated implementation of the joint agreement on border management and cooperation had considerably boosted mutually beneficial economic exchanges and cooperation along the border.

China and Myanmar were friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers and the people of the two countries enjoyed a traditional Paukphaw (fraternal) friendship, he added.

Meanwhile, Luo said he hoped that government departments in both China and Myanmar would increase contacts and coordination, so that the border continued to serve as a bridge for friendly exchanges and cooperation.

Khin Nyunt voiced a similar willingness to work harder still with China in various fields like trade and border cooperation.

Myanmar valued its ties with China, and was keen to pass on thetorch of bilateral friendship to generations to come, he said.

He praised the role of the agreement on border management and cooperation signed between his country and China in 1997, noting that it had safeguarded border stability and promoted trade and economic cooperation in border areas.

Myanmar cited the growth of border areas as important and it had worked out action programs to eliminate drugs in those areas, he said. It hoped to increase cooperation with Yunnan province which borders Myanmar, and other provinces and regions of China.

China and Myanmar established diplomatic relations in 1950. As well as working together on international affairs and trade, they have increased cooperation in the fight against narcotics since the 1980s.

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2003)