I. A Brief Introduction of the Pacific Islands Forum

Establishment Date: At the New Zealand's initiative, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Nauru, the Cook Islands and Australia convened a 7-party conference of the Pacific Islands in Wellington, capital of New Zealand from 5 to 7 August 1971. The conference officially established the Pacific Islands Forum and decided to hold the conference annually.

Goals: To enhance the cooperation and coordination among the South Pacific countries (regions) in the fields such as trade, economic development, aviation, marine transportation, telecommunication, energy, tourism, education and other issues of common concern. In recent years, the Forum has gradually developed into a regional organization with function of coordinating foreign policies and strengthening regional cooperation.

Members: There are 16 member countries (regions), namely, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Vanuatu, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, Palau and Niue.

Heads of the Organization: The current Secretary General of the Forum is Mr. Noel Levi who was elected in September 1997 and took office in January 1998, won his second term in November 2000. The current Deputy Secretary General is Mr. Iosefa Maiava who was appointed in December 1998 for a two-year term.

Headquarters: The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is located at Suva, capital of Fiji.

Website: www.forumsec.org.fj

Publications: Annual Report, SPEC Activities (Monthly), both in English.

Organization Structure: The South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation (SPEC) was set up as the standing organization in 1972, and its name was changed to "the South Pacific Forum Secretariat" in 1988. The Secretary General is elected by the representatives from Forum member governments, and is responsible directly to the Forum members for a three-year term; the Deputy Secretary General is appointed by contract, whose responsibility is to assist the Secretary General for a two-year term. Under the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General there are four divisions: Political and International Affairs Division, Trade and Investment Division, Development and Economic Policy Division and Corporate Services Division with a director in each division. There are approximately seventy staff members at the headquarters of the Forum Secretariat. There is a Trade Commission in Sydney and Auckland respectively, and a Pacific Islands Centre was set up in Tokyo. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the following seven relatively independent organizations constitute the Council of Regional Organisation in the Pacific (CROP, formerly named SPOCC, the South Pacific Organization of Coordination Commission ) whose permanent Chair is the Secretary General of the Forum: the Forum Fishery Agency (FFA), the Pacific Islands Development Programme (PIDP), the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the South Pacific Applied Geo-science Commission (SOPAC), the Secretariat for the Pacific Community Secretariat (SPC), the South Pacific Tourism Organization(SPTO, formerly TCSP, the Tourism Council of the South Pacific) and the University of the South Pacific (USP).

Australia and New Zealand each provides one third of the budget, and the island countries undertake the rest. The Forum receives grants from its dialogue partners.

Major Activities: The Forum holds a meeting of heads of member governments with the venue shifting among member countries (regions). Since its establishment, 30 sessions of Forum Summit Meetings have been held (twice in 1972). The 30th session of Forum Summit Meetings in 1999 decided to change the name,the South Pacific Forum, to the Pacific Islands Forum, effective as from the next session of the Forum Summit Meetings. The 31st session of Forum Summit Meetings in 2000 was held in Kiribati, and the Summit passed the Forum Communique, declaring that after the change of the Forum's name, the new Agreement Establishing the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat was adopted and opened for signature, and issued Biketawa Declaration claiming that a Forum Security Cooperation System was established against the possible turmoil in some member countries in the future. The Summit also decided to allow the current Secretary General Mr. Noel Levi to have his second term in office.

As from 1997, the Forum has held a Meeting of Economic Ministers annually prior to the Summit so as to coordinate and facilitate the economic reforms in member countries.

Since 1989, the Forum decided to invite countries such as China, the United States, Britain, France, Japan and Canada to attend the Post-Forum Dialogue. In 1991, the European Union was accepted as one of the Dialogue partners. In 1995, the Republic of Korea was also admitted. As France announced to resume its nuclear tests at Moruroa Island of the French Polynesian Islands in June 1995, the 26th Forum Summit Meeting deprived France of its dialogue partnership. On September 5, 1996, France declared to cease its nuclear tests permanently in the South Pacific region. The 27th Forum Summit Meeting passed a resolution to restore the dialogue partnership of France. In 1997, Malaysia was admitted as one of the dialogue partners. In 1999, the Philippines was also admitted as a dialogue partner. Currently, the Forum has 10 formal dialogue partners.

In 1999, New Caledonia was formally admitted as Observer to the Pacific Islands Forum.

II. China's Relations with the South Pacific Forum

In February 1988, the Chinese Ambassador to Fiji was invited by the SPOCC to attend the Talk on Establishing Dialogue Partnership held in Suva, Fiji. Since 1990, China has sent its government representative to attend the Post-Forum Dialogue meetings during the Forum meetings from the 21st to 29th, and as a result China's friendly relations and cooperation with the South Pacific Forum and its member countries have been strengthened. In July 1996, Vice Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Qian Qichen met the Secretary General of the South Pacific Forum Mr. Iremia Tabai during his official visit to Fiji. In October 2000, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Yang Jiechi signed, on behalf of the Chinese Government, the agreements on the establishment of a Forum Trade Office in China and on the establishment of China  Forum Cooperation Fund with Secretary General Mr. Noel Levi.

In April 1991, the Secretary General of the Forum Mr. Henry Natali visited China. In September 1992, the Secretary General of the Forum Mr. Iremia Tabai visited China. In March 1994, the Deputy Secretary General Mr. William Sutherland visited China. In July 1997, the Deputy Secretary General Mr. Tony Slatyre visited China. In May 1999, the Secretary General Mr. Noel Levi visited China.