Chinese Premier leaves for East Asian leaders' meetings in Bali

Premier Wen Jiabao left Beijing Thursday morning to attend a series of meetings for East Asian leaders scheduled from Nov. 17 to 21 in Bali of Indonesia. Wen will attend such meetings as the 14th summit between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) commemorating the 20th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations, as well as the 14th summit between ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea and the sixth East Asia Summit. After his attendance for these meetings, the premier will pay an official visit to Brunei. Wen's entourage includes Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping, Minister of Finance Xie Xuren, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming, Director of the Research Office of the State Council Xie Fuzhan, Vice Secretary-General of the State Council Wang Xuejun, Chinese ambassador to ASEAN Tong Xiaoling, Vice Secretary-General of the State Council and Director of the Premier's Office Xiang Zhaolun and Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin. Wen is making the trip at the invitations of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Bruneian Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.