Chinese President Jiang Zemin made a statement at the inauguration ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia in Bo'an, south China's Hainan Province, on Tuesday.

The full text of the statement follows:

Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,

The Boao Forum for Asia is officially established today. It is indeed a grand gathering of dignitaries, eminent persons and celebrities from the political, business and academic communities of Asian countries and many other countries that are interested in Asian affairs for an exchange of views on the development of Asia. On behalf of the Chinese Government and people, I wish to extend our hearty congratulations to you on the inauguration of the Forum and our warm welcome to all of you present here.

The beginning of the new century and the new millennium has witnessed an in-depth growth of economic globalization and regional economic cooperation. We Asian countries, though with different national conditions, are faced with the common task of seizing the opportunity, standing up to the challenges and working for a steady economic and social development.

The Boao Forum for Asia, which is a non-official international conference body, mainly consists of Asian countries and regions and is open to other regions as well. It provides people from all quarters with a place for high-level dialogue on such issues as economic development, population and environment in Asia. This reflects the aspiration of Asian countries for common development through enhanced dialogue and cooperation against the backdrop of economic globalization. And it is also the call of the times.

I fully support this idea. Advocating the establishment of a fair and reasonable new international political and economic order, the Chinese Government has all along attached importance to and supported multi-level and multi-channel dialogue and cooperation in various fields. As China had been chosen to be the permanent venue for the Forum, the Chinese Government will continue to support the Forum to ensure its sound development. At the same time, we also hope to have the support of the delegates from all countries.

Let us join hands and work vigorously for the common development of all Asian countries, for enhanced exchanges and cooperation between Asia and the rest of the world, and for a prosperous, strong and better Asia.

To conclude, I wish the Forum a complete success!

(Xinhua 02/27/2001)