Economic and trade ministers of the six members of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) are having their first meeting in
Shanghai today and tomorrow.
The meeting is expected to set up an experts' team to do research
on regional economic cooperation, make proposals on trade and
investment facilitation, discuss ways to communicate on economic
and trade laws and rules and develop an outline for multilateral
trade and economic cooperation.
The organization was set up in June 2001 by China, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The first international organization to be established in China, it
is named after the Chinese city where it was set up.
The organization represents an important step in China's efforts to
confront economic globalization and to promote regional economic
integration and cooperation with neighboring countries, said Wen
Zaixing, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign
Trade and Economic Cooperation.
The organization is also expected to consolidate cooperative
infrastructure in the region, help maintain stability and security
and promote the common prosperity of member economies, he said.
The region has huge market potential with a population of 1.5
billion and a total gross domestic product of US$1,300 billion.
Wen said member economies of the organization are complementary,
with Chinese textiles, household electrical appliances and
telecommunications products being competitive and other members
having advantages in metallurgy, the chemical industry, machinery,
energy, raw materials, farming and astronautics.
(China
Daily May 28, 2002)