Addressing the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
ministerial meeting being held in Santiago,?Foreign Minister
Li
Zhaoxing said there is no topic bigger than peace and no human
rights more important than security in the world.
Li said that APEC has adopted a series of joint actions to crack
down on terrorism and promote capacity building amongst member
economies.
As to the fight against corruption, Li said the government pays
great attention to the issue, supports international cooperation
and commends the anti-corruption action plan adopted by APEC.
China is ready to conduct pragmatic cooperation and share
information and experience with other APEC members on the issue to
help create a just and transparent environment for economic and
social development in the Asian-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, Assistant Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun said at the
meeting that APEC trade ministers had reached an agreement in June
in Pucon, Chile, to voice common support for the resumption of the
WTO Doha Round talks.
The action greatly contributed to the signing of a WTO framework
deal in the following month and China will continue supporting
APEC's contribution to the WTO talks, said the official.
?
Yi also said China hopes the Doha Round, called a "development
round," will give more attention to the demands of developing
members.
He urged all parties involved to create favorable conditions for
the conclusion of the talks.
The 16th APEC ministerial meeting, which was held prior to the
APEC informal leadership meeting, ended in Santiago on Thursday
with the signing of a joint statement, pledging more efforts in
trade facilitation, human security, sustainable development and
macroeconomic stability.
As a major part of APEC's decision-making process, the annual
ministerial meeting of foreign and economic/trade ministers takes
stock of the year's activities to provide recommendations for the
leaders' meeting.
(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2004)