Chinese premier meets Malaysian PM, ASEAN secretary-general

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday met with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Surin Pitsuwan respectively in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The meetings were held on the sidelines of the 8th China-ASEAN Expo and the 8th China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, which both opened on Friday morning in Nanning. During his meeting with Najib, who is also Malaysia's Finance Minister, Wen spoke highly of the deepening friendship and increasing strategic cooperation between the two countries. "Facing a complicated international and regional situation, it will be beneficial for both countries, as well as China-ASEAN ties and East Asian cooperation, to strengthen China-Malaysia cooperation," Wen said. He called on the two countries to continue to expand cooperation in trade, economics, investment, finance and technology and to maintain close communication and coordination on major issues in order to promote the development of bilateral ties. Najib said Malaysia attaches high importance to its relationship with China and will work to deepen bilateral cooperation. Malaysia will also work with China to promote the sound and stable development of ASEAN-China relations. The two prime ministers also attended an inauguration ceremony for a China-Malaysia industrial park that will be established in the coastal city of Qinzhou in Guangxi. During his meeting with Surin, Wen said China and ASEAN have witnessed increasing cooperation and achieved fruitful results since they established dialogues 20 years ago. China will use its strategic partnership with ASEAN as a cornerstone for the development of its foreign policies regarding neighboring countries and steadily support ASEAN's integration, Wen said. He pledged that China will work closely with ASEAN to promote bilateral relations. Surin said the 20 years of friendly cooperation between ASEAN and China have benefited both sides. Cooperation between China and ASEAN (10+1) and cooperation among ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (10+3) have shown abundant results, he said. The 10+1 and 10+3 mechanisms should continue to be the basis of East Asian cooperation, he said. Surin also said he appreciates China's assistance and called on China to further increase investment in ASEAN member countries. ASEAN will join hands with China to comprehensively promote reciprocal cooperation, strengthen coordination and cooperation on major regional issues and bring ASEAN-China ties and East Asian cooperation to a new high, Surin said.