President Hu Jintao
will pay state visits to Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Cuba from
November 11 to 23 at the invitation of Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, Chilean
President Ricardo Lagos Escobar, and Cuba's President of the
Council of State and Council of Ministers Fidel Castro.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue made the announcement
in Beijing on Tuesday at a routine press briefing.
During the visits, Hu will meet with heads of state and
parliamentary leaders as well as local leaders, business people and
technology experts. Cooperation agreements are expected to be
signed.
Zhang said that Sino-Brazilian relations have developed smoothly
over the past few years, especially since the two countries
established a strategic partnership. Both have much in common
politically; they share identical views on many international and
regional issues; and have enjoyed close economic, trade and
technology ties.
In May this year, Brazilian President Lula paid a state visit to
China, during which the two countries signed a series of
cooperative agreements.
Zhang said President Hu will also attend the 12th Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) informal leadership meeting that will
be held in Santiago, Chile.
Discussions will include trade and investment liberalization and
economic and technological cooperation, including such hot topics
as the new round of World Trade Organization trade talks and APEC
reform.
China hopes the meeting will achieve concrete results and
progress on energy cooperation, APEC reform and midterm assessment
of the 1994 Bogor Goals, which call for "free and open trade and
investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialized economies
and 2020 for developing economies."
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will attend the 16th APEC
ministerial meeting to be held on November 17 and 18.
Turning to the European Union and the recent signing of its
first Constitution Treaty, Zhang said that China believes a unified
and integrated EU will offer new opportunities for the further
development of China-EU relations and for the EU to play positive
and constructive roles in European and international affairs.
Twenty-five EU member states signed the Constitution Treaty last
Friday, which China sees as a new milestone in the process of the
EU integration and of great significance to the EU's
development.
In Asia, the spokeswoman said, Chinese diplomats are pushing for
the fourth round of six-party talks concerning the nuclear standoff
on the Korean Peninsula to be held as soon as possible. However, it
is not clear whether the new round will be held at the end of
November or in December.
With China as facilitator and mediator, three rounds of
six-party talks have been held in Beijing since August 2003. The
fourth round, tentatively scheduled to be held in late September,
was postponed.
China supports a nuclear-weapons-free Korean Peninsula,
maintaining peace and stability and solving problems through
dialogue, Zhang said.
She stressed that all six parties -- North and South Korea, the
US, Russia and Japan as well as China -- have agreed to maintain
dialogue within the framework of the six-party talks.
In another development, Zhang said China will further enhance
its cooperation with central Asian countries in cracking down on
the "three evil forces of terrorism, splittism and extremism."
China has approved cooperation agreements with Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to conduct joint
investigations, regular meetings and consultations and information
exchanges.
The spokeswoman said these five countries share common interests
and the agreements will help them work together to ensure peace and
stability in the region.
The US presidential elections are now under way, but China
expects to maintain close and cooperative relations with the US
regardless of the outcome, Zhang indicated. China values its
relationship with the United States and the two nations -- both
globally influential -- have reached an understanding on a number
of important issues.
Zhang announced that State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan will pay a
working visit to Indonesia on November 5 as a special
representative of President Hu Jintao. The trip is made at the
invitation of the Indonesian government.
Tang will meet with the new leaders of Indonesia to discuss
strengthening Sino-Indonesian cooperation and other issues of
mutual interest.
Zhang also announced that Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom will visit China from November 5 to
9 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.
(Xinhua News Agency, CRI.com.cn November 3, 2004)