A senior Chinese trade official said in Beijing Tuesday that economic cooperation with Caribbean countries has great potential and China encourages entrepreneurs to invest in the region.

Vice-Minister of Commerce Ma Xiuhong made the remark to economic ministers from eight Caribbean countries, including Surinam, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas and Jamaica.

The Caribbean officials are here for a 10-day study visit in China, studying Chinese experience in external trade, economic cooperation, reform and opening-up and rural area development.

The officials are scheduled to visit the Chinese banking and commercial hub of Shanghai and the special economic zones of Xiamen and Shenzhen.

Ma said at the opening ceremony of the investment symposium that China and the eight Caribbean countries share a friendly relationship and economic cooperation has expanded from the traditional labor, agriculture and handicraft industries to the manufacturing of home appliances, sea transportation and tourism.

"Chinese investment in those countries, serving as the foundation of long-term and strategic cooperation, is on rise, and bilateral economic ties have huge potential," Ma said, noting that23 Chinese-funded companies have been established in the Caribbean nations so far.

Statistics from Chinese customs show that trade volume between China and the eight countries hit 220 million US dollars in the first seven months of 2003, up 31 percent year-on-year.

The seventh China international investment and trade fair to beheld next week in the coastal city of Xiamen will hold a special investment introductory conference for the Caribbean countries, Ma said, and China is striving to let entrepreneurs know about and invest in Caribbean countries.

Minister of Planning, Trade, Industry, Commerce and Public Service Affairs Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda said that the Chinese economy has performed well in the past decades.

"We will learn from China's experience, replicate the success in the Caribbean countries and we hope to forge stronger economic ties with China," Browne said.

Browne also urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to improve rules to help the developing countries share the benefits brought about by globalization.

"As developing countries, we and China have cooperated well under the WTO framework and we hope to further the cooperation to protect our common interests," Browne said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2003)