On April 21, 2008, Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei received in the foreign ministry the delegates attending a workshop on the relations between China and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

He Yafei said that China attaches importance to developing the relationship with SAARC. The two sides enjoy a promising prospect for the cooperation in such areas as infrastructure development, human resources development, and liberalization of regional trade. China welcomes SAARC to play a bigger role in Asia. China will send a high-level delegation to attend the SAARC Summit this year.

The delegates of SAARC countries voiced positive comments on the growth of China-SAARC relations and said that the workshop issued a joint document proposing the establishment of a partnership between China and SAARC for common prosperity and raising 10-point recommendations on the cooperation in such areas as economy, trade, infrastructure development, and poverty alleviation. China's accession to SAARC as an observer is of great significance for the two sides enjoy great potentials for cooperation. It is hoped that China plays a bigger role in the development process of SAARC.

From April 19 to 20, China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) and the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) of Sri Lanka co-hosted the International Workshop on "China and SAARC, Establishing a Partnership for Common Prosperity", which was attended by the government officials of SAARC countries, the officials from SAARC Secretariat and well-known think-tank scholars.