Could you brief us on the itinerary and purpose of ASEAN Secretary -General Surins visit to China?
At the invitation of Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Secretary-General Surin will visit China from March 16 to 22. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will have talks with him and they will exchange views on China ASEAN relations, practical cooperation in various fields and international and regional issues of mutual interest. Apart from that, Secretary General Surin will also visit Hubei and Jiangsu Provinces. China hopes that the visit enhances cooperation between China and the ASEAN Secretariat and China-ASEAN strategic partnership. To step up good-neighborly and friendly cooperation with ASEAN is an integral part of China’s neighborhood policy. Over the nearly past twenty years of China-ASEAN dialogue mechanism, a mature and complete system has taken shape, yielding abundant fruits of friendly exchanges and practical cooperation in different fields. I want to especially point out that on January 1 this year, China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was officially launched. With 1.9 billion population, a
