Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Summit in Bali, Indonesia, Nov. 18, 2011. [Xinhua]

Boosting healthy development of East Asian cooperation

Over the years, East Asia has witnessed the simultaneous development of various mechanisms including ASEAN, 10+1, 10+3, the trilateral summit between China, Japan and South Asia, and the East Asian Summit, Yang said.

During Wen's attendance at the series of meetings, the premier repeatedly stressed that East Asian nations should regard ASEAN as the dominant power of cooperation, highlight the theme of development, mutual benefit and win-win results, and strengthen the cohesion and momentum of development for the mechanisms of 10+1 and 10+3, Yang said.

Wen also put forward a number of important initiatives concerning the region's pragmatic cooperation, which were well lauded by participants at the meetings, Yang said.

Speaking at the 14th ASEAN Plus Three Summit, Wen lauded the important role of 10+3 cooperation in successfully navigating the international financial crisis, maintaining fairly fast economic growth and financial stability, and deepening economic integration in East Asia.

Meanwhile, he put forward a four-point proposal on 10+3 cooperation: accelerating trade liberalization and facilitation in East Asia; raising financial and monetary cooperation to a higher level; increasing input in East Asia connectivity to lay the foundation for East Asia integration; and shifting the growth model and promoting sustainable development in East Asia.

When attending the trilateral summit of leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, Wen spoke highly of the sound momentum of trilateral cooperation, and made proposals on cooperation in such fields as trade, investment, economy, finance, sustainable development, and cultural and people-people exchanges.

He also discussed regional and international issues of common concern with the other two leaders.

Addressing the sixth East Asia Summit, Wen said that coping with the international economic and financial crisis should continue to be regarded as a regional priority.

The region should encourage expansion of investment, increase investor confidence, and boost the inner drive for its development, he said.

Wen called for prioritizing sustainable development as a long-term cooperative goal, and urged overcoming challenges brought by non-traditional security threats to create a better environment for growth.

He stressed that under the new situation, the East Asia Summit should be maintained as a leader's strategic forum, continue to regard ASEAN as the dominant power of cooperation, and make efforts to seek and expand interest junctions.

China was willing to work with all sides to make the summit more fruitful and benefit more countries and peoples, the premier said.

On China's stance on the South China Sea, Wen stressed that the East Asia summit was not the right forum to discuss the issue.

A resolution among directly related countries through friendly negotiation and consultation in a peaceful way was a consensus reached in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, signed by China and ASEAN countries in 2002, Wen said.

He expressed China's hope that relevant parties would take into consideration the overall situation of regional peace and stability, and do something more conducive to mutual trust and cooperation.