Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday put forward a three-point proposal on the direction of East Asia cooperation at the 2nd East Asia Summit in Cebu, the second largest city of the Philippines.

 

In a speech, Wen said East Asia cooperation should enhance common development and prosperity of the region.

 

"We should start such cooperation in areas in which the parties have extensive common interest and consensus. Priority should be given to sharing development practice and advanced information and other technologies to enable the participating countries to benefit from cooperation and thus build up confidence in and momentum of cooperation," he said.

 

"We should ensure that East Asia cooperation grow in a balanced way and bring benefits to all, so that we can, through practical cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels, build strong economic and trade linkages and put in place a cooperation framework based on mutual benefit and drawing on mutual strength," he added.

 

The East Asia cooperation should lead to harmony among all countries in the region, Wen said.

 

"We should create a new community of common destiny whose members enjoy common development in times of peace and meet challenges together in times of crisis," Wen said.

 

The goal of East Asia cooperation is to promote peace, stability and development of the region. "To achieve this goal, we should foster a regional security environment of mutual trust and enduring stability by bridging differences through dialogue on an equal footing and resolving disputes through friendly consultation," he said.

 

East Asia cooperation should respect diversified development of social systems and cultures, Wen said.

 

"We should bear in mind the particular national conditions of and uneven development in East Asian countries, respect each other and accommodate the needs and capabilities of different countries and advance cooperation step by step," he said.

 

East Asia cooperation should be open. Participation by countries and organizations outside the region should be welcome to widen the scope and reinforce the foundation of the cooperation, he added.

 

"China supports ASEAN in continuing to play a leading role in East Asia cooperation," Wen pledged.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2007)