Interview: China, Myanmar continuously push forward mutually beneficial cooperation: Chinese Ambassador

By Zhang Yunfei

YANGON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Li Junhua said on Tuesday that the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Myanmar is being continuously pushed forward.

Li made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the eve of China's top legislator Wu Bangguo's visit to Myanmar. Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of China, will visit Myanmar from Wednesday to Saturday.

Li said for more than 60 years since China and Myanmar established diplomatic relations, the two countries' leaders have maintained the trend of frequent and reciprocal visits based on mutual respect and mutual support, leading and pushing the continuous development of the two countries' traditional, neighborly and friendly ties.

He said last year when Myanmar President U Thein Sein visited China and met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, the two leaders decided to establish China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership.

They also reached a series of consents on maintaining high level exchanges, raising strategic trust, increasing the level of economic and trade cooperation and launching friendly cooperation in each sector.

Li noted that chairman Wu will be the most senior leader visiting Myanmar in nearly one decade and also the first chairman of China's National People's Congress making a formal goodwill visit since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1950.

During the visit, he said, chairman Wu will meet Myanmar leaders and have talks and exchange views on cooperation between China and Myanmar in the sectors of politics, economy, social affairs and culture as well as on the strengthening of cooperation in exploring the enhancement of legal system building between the two parliaments.

Li pointed out that since the establishment of Myanmar's parliament in the beginning of last year, the exchanges between the two countries' parliaments have been rapidly developing.

Wu's visit will be a return visit of Speaker of Myanmar's House of Representatives (Lower House) U Shwe Mann's visit to China in February this year.

Chinese congressmen and some special committees and commissions of Myanmar's parliament have also exchanged visits, signifying an entry into a new stage of cooperation between the two parliaments.

Li said recent years saw a steady growth of China-Myanmar economic and trade cooperation in both scale and level, and the two sides are gradually enhancing the sustainable form of cooperation and relations.

He cited that in 2011, China-Myanmar bilateral trade totalled 6. 5 billion U.S. dollars, up 46.3 percent correspondingly. China's investment in Myanmar also reached 20.26 billion U.S. dollars by the end of last year, leading in Myanmar's foreign trade and foreign investment. In the first six months of this year, bilateral trade amounted to 2.6 billion U.S. dollars, while China' s investment in Myanmar also increased during the period.

Li said for the past several years, China-Myanmar mutually beneficial cooperation has greatly contributed to Myanmar's socioeconomic development, acknowledged by the Myanmar government, business partners and the majority of the people.

He said at present the bilateral relations development have been highlighted by the exchanges in the culture sector, citing the conveyance of Chinese Buddha tooth relic to Myanmar for public homage, as well as a Chinese cultural troupe's visit to Myanmar. He said these kind of exchanges have brought closer the mutual links between the Buddhist circles, between the artists and between the peoples of the two countries.

On the occasion of Myanmar's hosting of the 27th Southeast Asian Games next year, Li said China's government, sports circle and business circle would be willing to help Myanmar in the successful holding of the event on a grand scale.

Li further said that the Chinese side respects and understands Myanmar's reform and opening up, reiterating that China will as always stick to a diplomatic policy of living in good term with its neighbor and making partner with it.

Ambassador Li believes that the visit of chairman Wu to Myanmar is bound to greatly enhance the all-sided friendly exchange and cooperation between the parliaments, governments, judicial departments and political parties of the two countries, deepening the strategic communication of leaders of the two countries in bilateral relations and regional hot issues and raising the exchange and cooperation between the two peoples to push the two countries' all-sided mutually beneficial cooperation to a new high. Enditem