Chinese premier meets South Korean president

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on bilateral ties as well as international and regional issues of common concern Sunday in Cebu, the second largest city of the Philippines.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Seventh Trilateral Leaders' Meeting of China, Japan and South Korea, and the 10th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus China, Japan and South Korea (or 10+3 ).

The Chinese premier said China and South Korea are both friendly neighbors and important cooperative partners. The two countries share common interests and similar views in safeguarding and promoting regional peace and development.

To develop comprehensive friendly good neighborly relations is the Chinese government's fixed policy, the Chinese premier said, adding that China is ready to exert joint efforts to constantly expand and deepen China-South Korea comprehensive cooperative partnership.

Wen added that China and South Korea are important forces in safeguarding the stabilization of the situations on the Korean Peninsular. China-South Korea relations have maintained sound momentum of all-round development in recent years and the two countries have established comprehensive cooperative partnership.

Bilateral trade volume reached 111.93 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, a 24.3 percent increase over 2004.

The year 2007 is the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which will hold China-South Korea "Year of Exchange" activities.

The Chinese premier arrived in Cebu on Saturday to attend a series of summits. He will also pay an official visit to the Southeast Asian nation. It was the fourth time for Premier Wen to attend such ASEAN-related summits since 2003.

Source: Xinhua