Senior officials from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered in Wuyishan, Fujian Monday to prepare for the upcoming leaders meeting between ASEAN and China (10+1).

Addressing on the opening of the two-day ninth China-ASEAN Senior Officials' Consultation, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister WangYi said the vice-ministerial consultation is a key communicative channel for the two sides and has played an important role in improving China-ASEAN relations.

Both China and the ASEAN nations have undergone some changes since the last consultation meeting, so it is necessary for the senior officials of the two sides to have closer exchanges, he said.

Wang said the consultation will make preparations, especially political preparations, for the leaders meeting between ASEAN and China (10+1), which is scheduled to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in October this year.

"We need to face the reality in our cooperation, but we also need to have a forward-looking attitude so as to continuously put forward new ideas and proposals," Wang said.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong from Singapore and senior officials from the ten ASEAN countries attended the meeting.

Issues to be discussed by the officials also include the construction of China-ASEAN free trade area and new initiatives on promoting China-ASEAN cooperation.

(Xinhua News Agency   August 18, 2003)