China attaches great importance to the forthcoming ASEAN-China summit and has made full preparations for it, Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi said in Bali, Indonesia Saturday.

Wang is attending the ASEAN + China senior officials meeting which prepares documents for the ensuing ASEAN + China summit.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the summit.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Wang said this will be Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's first time to attend the ASEAN + China summit and will also be one of China's important diplomatic activities, which will carry on the past experience and open a new chapter in the relations between China and ASEAN.

He said Chinese Premier Wen's participation in the ASEAN + China summit will indicate that their relations enter a new stage of development.

Wang said China will be formally included in the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), which will further consolidate the base on which China and ASEAN establish their official ties.

He said the Chinese premier will put forward a series of proposals on expanding cooperation between China and the organization, in the areas of trade, public health, education, culture, youth, and political security.

China supports the Bali Concord II, which will be signed by the ASEAN member countries at the Ninth ASEAN Summit slated for Oct. 7-8 and will determine the direction of development of the organization, Wang said.

China will also support the economic development of the ASEAN countries and will continue to invest in the development of the Mekong River Basin, he said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 5, 2003)