 On July 22, 2003, the Furama Hotel in Dalian took on a festive atmosphere rarely scene before in the beautiful coastal city in north-eastern China. Hundreds of high-level economic officials from Asian and European countries joined together in the brightly-lit hall to pursue a common goal of better understanding and cooperation.
“Dalian of Liaoning province has been chosen by the Chinese Commerce Ministry to host this important meeting, which makes us feel deeply honored. We will try our utmost to serve this meeting,” said Bo Xilai, Governor of Liaoning Province
As the host city, Dalian spared no effort in its organization of the meeting. Behind all the preparation work is the central government’s firm stand in support of worldwide economic integration.
“Nowadays, economic globalization is making rapid progress and is a prominent trend in the world’s economic growth. One clear feature of economic globalization is to bind the economies of different countries together and to strengthen their dependence on each other. It is unlikely that any country or region can achieve economic development on its own by staying away from other countries and regions. Cooperation has become a common need for the economic growth of all countries,” said Lu Fuyuan, Minister of Chinese Commerce Ministry.
Given the recent gloomy economic picture around the world, an emerging China plays an ever more important role, especially in term of its driving force for other nations, including the many developed countries which suffer from economic slowdown now and are thirsty for a rebound. It is universally accepted that the increasing participation of China in the world economy can bring forward new economic opportunities. Both China’s continuous high-speed growth and its potentially huge market pose an opportunity for broader and deeper cooperation between nations and even continents. When it comes to Asia and Europe, these two complementary continents can make the best use of the current meeting to turn a new page in their mutual economic history.
Since China announced a phased victory over the SARS disaster, a series of official efforts have been immediately taken to create efficient platform for further promoting Asia-Europe cooperation. The 5th ASEM Economic Minister’s Meeting held in Dalian helps emerge a stronger China with a more open attitude to the outside world.
“Among the countries sending their delegations to the current meeting, Japan is our biggest trade partner; the EU is listed as the 3rd biggest, ASEAN as the 5th, and South Korea as the 6th. Four of China’s ten biggest trade partners have come to attend this meeting. It is an important gathering and a great number of issues were discussed during the bilateral talks to further promote bilateral cooperation. As China has maintained steady economic growth in recent years and continues to create considerable business opportunities, the industrial and commercial circles from other countries put high expectations on this meeting and are eager to involve themselves in the dialogue,” said Lu Fuyuan.
Among the hot topics under discussion both at the bilateral talks and on several occasions when delegates met with media, how to set up an efficient trading mechanism always causes great enthusiasm. Given the experience of the western economic world, a free trade zone seems to be a model that can help regional economies take a stride forward.
The three-day meeting is far from enough for the exchange of views and positions. But it has set a solid foundation for further cooperation-oriented talks, especially within the WTO framework. The address of the Chinese Vice Premier turned out to be a clear gesture of the country’s dedication its continue to opening up endeavor and to increase its contribution to a better world economy.
“Today, economic globalization and regional economic integration are forging ahead at high speed. It is of great significance, in our opinion, that Asia and Europe can achieve common prosperity and greater development through deepening their economic and trade cooperation and exploiting their comparable advantages. The Asia-Europe meetings have taken up the mission to facilitate the multilateral trade mechanism. If all the members can put aside their differences and seek common positions in finding the point of intersection between their interests and come to common views before the next round of WTO negotiations, we can send a positive signal to the coming Cancun talks and help make substantial achievements during those talks. Undoubtedly, that will render the strongest possible support for current multilateral trade mechanisms,” said Wu Yi, Chinese vice-premier.
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