Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Sunday unveiled a multi-billion-dollar package of aid and credit to enhance China-ASEAN cooperation.
Yang met with envoys of the 10 ASEAN countries in Beijing Sunday, fresh from his return from Thailand late Saturday where scheduled Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings were postponed due to Thailand's domestic unrest.
|
|
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (C) meets with envoys of 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in Beijing, capital of China, on April 12, 2009.[Yao Dawei/Xinhua]
|
"As always, China firmly backs ASEAN integration and community building, and firmly supports ASEAN playing a leading role in regional cooperation," said Yang, adding China's policy toward cooperation with the ASEAN was unchanged despite the postponement of the meetings.
Yang said China called for joint efforts to reach an investment agreement, which was scheduled to be signed on the sidelines of the postponed meetings.
The agreement would be conducive to the establishment of the China-ASEAN free trade zone.
China planned to establish a China-ASEAN investment cooperation fund totaling 10 billion US dollars, designed for cooperation on infrastructure construction, energy and resources, information and communications, Yang said.
Over the next three to five years, China planned to offer credit of 15 billion US dollars to ASEAN countries, including loans with preferential terms of 1.7 billion dollars in aid for cooperation projects.
China also planned to offer 270 million yuan (39.7 million dollars) in special aid to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to meet urgent needs, inject 5 million dollars into the China-ASEAN Cooperation Fund, and donate 900,000 dollars to the cooperation fund of ASEAN plus China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK).
