Arroyo praises ASEAN-China, Philippine-China ties 

Source: Xinhuanet

10-25-2006 16:19

The relationship between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China was one of the most dynamic and progressive in the world since the two sides established a dialogue partnership 15 years ago,PhilippinePresident Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told Xinhua.

In an interview at the Malacanang Presidential Palace with Xinhua and other Chinese media, Arroyo said she was excited and greatly honored to be visiting China later this month to participate in the celebration of the establishment of the dialogue partnership between ASEAN and China in China's southwestern city of Nanning.

Arroyo said that over the past 15 years, the cooperation between ASEAN and China had expanded from involving only economic and trade relations to including regional political security and development.

"I hope that in the next 15 years, we can move forward even beyond that. That we can promote the ASEAN-China partnership by promoting confidence-building measures, intensifying interactions, and allocating more resources for building relations for cooperation and mutual benefit," she said.

Arroyo said all ASEAN member countries and China had agreed to fully implement a free trade agreement by 2010, and they had already begun implementing many agreements ahead of time as an "early harvest program" by reducing and eliminating trade tariffs on many products.

She said ASEAN enthusiastically welcomed the expansion of trade relations with China "because it lessens our traditional dependence on other markets like theUnited Statesand Europe.

"For example, the Philippines has been able to establish a new market for its electronics, which is our No. 1 export market. We developed our relations with China just when the U.S. market was slowing down and China has become our biggest electronic market," said the president.