China has planned to host a package of activities in the coming two years to mark the 600th anniversary of the voyages to Africa through Asia of large royal fleets led by Zheng He, an imperial official of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).  

The Chinese government has decided to set up a task force involving the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture to coordinate the activities, officials with the Ministry of Communications said in Dalian Thursday.

The task force, which is based at the Ministry of Communications, plans to issue commemorative stamps and coins in honor of the seven voyages between 1405 and 1433, which took royal fleets of some 100 ships and 28,000 people aboard, to about 30 Asian and African countries and regions at order of Chinese Emperor Yongle and his successor.

The activities are expected to peak in 2005, the 600th anniversary of the first voyage.

The major events include a high-profile rally and exhibition in Beijing in 2005, and academic exchanges on the seven voyages in Shanghai City, Fujian and Jiangsu provinces in east China.

Navigation experts said the seven missions were unprecedented in the sizes of the fleets and the navigation technology compared with other long voyages by other countries at the same times.

China was a rich and powerful country in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, and its wealth and then advanced navigation technology made the maritime mission possible.

But inward-looking policies and bans on maritime trade in the later years of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) have been blamed for China's fall as an economic power.

Zheng He and his fleet visited Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India during the first voyage from 1405 to 1407, and returned with diplomats from some countries and traded goods.

Zheng He and his fleet reached the coast of east Africa on the fourth voyage from 1413 to 1415.

His seventh voyage began in 1431 and ended in 1433, and involved nearly 20 Asian and African countries.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2003)