President Hu Jintao said in Beijing on Wednesday that China pledges to enhance exchanges with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members in an effort to push forward regional cooperation in East Asia.

Citing China as a "good neighbor, friend and partner" of ASEAN, Hu said that China attaches importance to the first East Asia Summit, respects the consensus reached by ASEAN members and supports ASEAN's leading role in the summit.

Hu made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was in Beijing for the first time since he took office last year.

"We are ready to enhance communication and coordination with ASEAN members in an effort to push forward the construction of China-ASEAN free trade area and East Asia regional cooperation," he said.

The inaugural East Asia Summit will be held in Malaysia in December, when ASEAN heads will meet with leaders from China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Hu also spoke highly of the growth of China-Singapore relations.

Some 15 years after China and Singapore forged diplomatic ties, Hu said, bilateral relations are healthy and growing fast as a result of mutual efforts.

On the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, the two countries properly handle major problems concerning the other, Hu said.

China-Singapore economic relations have also witnessed win-win results. The Chinese economy is compatible with the Singaporean economy so the mutually beneficial cooperation complies with the fundamental interests of the two, Hu said, adding that the economic cooperation has given impetus to the growth of bilateral ties.

The two countries also scored progress in regional cooperation, through which the bilateral cooperation was enriched and regional peace and prosperity promoted, Hu said.

Lee said the enhancement of bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation is in the interest of the two countries and conducive to regional stability and development, in particular to the backdrop of China's dynamic economic development and vigorous development of East Asia cooperation.

He hoped bilateral ties, ASEAN-China cooperation and East Asian cooperation could all be pushed forward with concerted efforts made by both.

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2005)