Trade Ministers to Enhance Dialogue

China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have agreed to establish a dialogue mechanism among their trade ministers to promote economic cooperation.

The agreement was reached during the informal meeting of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and ROK President Kim Dae-jung, all of whom are in Brunei to participate in the fifth summit of the ASEAN+3, a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the three nations.

Zhu proposed that the trade ministers of the three countries meet during the annual summit of the ASEAN+3 to enhance their co-ordination and cooperation, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Zhu suggested that the supervision and quarantine departments of the three nations institute a consultation system to find and solve problems in time and promote the healthy development of trade relations.

The three sides have also agreed to support continued contact among their financial ministers and launch a forum on commerce to enhance exchanges and cooperation.

They expressed their strong opposition to terrorism in any form and agreed to strengthen the contact and cooperation among their public security departments in their joint fight against transnational crimes, the spokesman said.

In another development, Zhu said healthy and stable Sino-Japanese relations should be based on learning from history and facing the future, according to the spokesman.

"China and the ROK should work together to keep on developing the momentum of bilateral trade relations when the global economy is slowing down," Zhu said during his meeting with Kim.

Zhu said that China is willing to continue pushing forward its cooperation with the ROK in such areas as CDMA mobile communication technology, finance and insurance.

Kim said his nation will take good advantage of the opportunities brought about by China's entry into the World Trade Organization and try to create a win-win situation for both nations.

The two sides also exchanged their views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

(China Daily November 7, 2001)