At the Fifth 10+3 and 10+1 Summit held last November in Brunei Darussalam, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji put forward a number of initiatives on the enhancement of cooperation, which were welcomed by participating leaders. Since the summits, the Chinese side has been working energetically for their implementation.

I. Financial Cooperation

The Chinese side has been actively implementing the Chiang Mai Initiative. China signed bilateral currency swap agreements with Thailand, Japan and ROK respectively in December 2001, March and June 2002, and has started to contact some other countries on such agreements. From 2001, the Chinese Government has held four training courses for 10+3 financial and central bank officials in Beijing and Shanghai respectively, which yielded good results, and will continue to host more such training courses. China has scheduled the High-level Seminar on Short-term Capital Flow for this October and will jointly sponsor the Second Seminar on Early Warning System with Asian Development Bank in Beijing.


II. Economic Cooperation and Trade

Following the consensus reached last year between the leaders on the establishment of a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in the decade to come, China and ASEAN have been vigorously engaged in negotiations to this end. The Third China-ASEAN Economic Senior Officials Meeting and the First China-ASEAN Trade Negotiation Committee Meeting were held in Beijing from 14 to 16 May, during which the terms of reference of China-ASEAN Trade Negotiation Committee was adopted and the basic structure and contents of " Framework Agreement on ASEAN-China Comprehensive Economic Cooperation (Draft)" defined. It was agreed that further discussion should be conducted on the basis of the existing framework so as to form a document as early as possible for the leaders of both sides to sign during the 10+1 Summit to be held this November. During the Second Meeting held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 27 to 28 June, the two sides had further exchange of views on issues related to China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

Moreover, Premier Zhu stated at the Summit that China would offer special preferential tariff treatments to Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Bilateral follow-up consultations are now going on between the Chinese side and the countries concerned.

Last November, the inaugural meeting of China-ASEAN Business Council was held in Indonesia. Its second meeting is scheduled to be held in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China at the end of this year. As a bilingual website for the Council, China-ASEAN Business Net has been launched. It is now being constantly enriched with contents so as to provide economic information service and an E-commerce platform timely and effectively for enterprises of both sides.


III. Agricultural Cooperation

At last year's 10+1 Summit, key areas, agriculture included, were identified for China-ASEAN cooperation at the beginning of the 21st century. The Chinese side has completed the drafting of an MOU on mid and long-term agricultural cooperation between China and ASEAN and submitted it to the ASEAN side. The two sides plan to sign the MOU during the 10+3 Forest and Agricultural Ministers Meeting to be held this October. In June 2002, Chinese Ministry of Agriculture sponsored in Beijing Sino-ASEAN Training Courses on Mechanized Technique of Paddy Production and China-ASEAN Hybrid Rice Production Training Course. Sino-ASEAN Workshop on Agricultural Policy, Agricultural Biotechnology Training Course for ASEAN countries and other activities will also be held. In June, the Chinese side also held the Forum on Agricultural Technology and Cooperation in East Asia, attended by about 100 representatives from ASEAN countries, China, Japan, ROK and UNFAO.


IV. IT Cooperation

Premier Zhu has promised that the Chinese side will continue to support and participate in the development of e-ASEAN. In the years to come, China will redouble its efforts in IT training for ASEAN personnel and take an active part in the information infrastructure development in ASEAN countries. In April 2001, Chinese Ministry of Information Industry held in Shenzhen the First China-ASEAN Information and Communication Technology Seminar, and the second one will be held in Indonesia this year. On 18 June this year, EAWG(E-ASEAN Working Group)+3 and EAWG+China held meetings in Singapore. The Chinese side submitted to the meeting a MOU of mid and long-term IT cooperation between China and ASEAN. It is hoped that with ASEAN's positive feedback, it will be signed next year. The Chinese side will hold five training courses within this year to train 100 IT professionals for ASEAN.


V. Cooperation in the Development of Mekong River Basin

The Chinese Government attaches importance and is committed to the cooperation in the Mekong River Basin development. At the Summit Premier Zhu undertook to increase input in this area.

As for the navigation cooperation on Lanchang-Mekong River among China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, Premier Zhu committed US$ five million to the navigation channels improvement project on the Upper Mekong River at last year's Summit. The first phase of this project was completed last April, with good results achieved. From 29 May to 5 June this year, the First China-ASEAN Training Project for Vessel Masters, Chief Engineers and Safety Administrative Personnel on the Lancang-Mekong River was successfully held in China.

Regarding the Kunming-Bangkok highway, the Chinese side has undertaken to build one third of the Laotian section in the form of assistance. At present, the quadrilateral cooperation among China, Laos, Thailand and Asian Development Bank on the construction of the Laotian section has achieved substantive progress. The Four Parties have agreed to build a 2nd/3rd-class highway in conformity with ASEAN standard. Currently, they are holding consultations at the working level on technical standard, construction process, financing arrangements and other related matters.

As for the Kunming-Singapore railway, Premier Zhu has pledged to start, as early as possible, building or renovating the relevant sections in the Chinese territory. At present, the ASEAN side has set the east-line plan, and the Chinese side has also finished the feasibility study and evaluation of renovation or construction of the relevant sections in the Chinese territory.

At the Summit, Premier Zhu called for the convocation of a China-ASEAN transportation ministers meeting. In May this year, the First China-ASEAN Senior Transportation Officials Meeting was held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Second Senior Transportation Officials Meeting and the First China-ASEAN Transportation Ministers Meeting are scheduled to be held in this September, during which cooperation between China and ASEAN in air, shipping and land-based transportation will be discussed.


VI. Human Resources Development

The year 2001 was the first year after the Chinese side announced that it would contribute another US$ five million to the China-ASEAN Cooperation Fund. The Chinese side proposed 14 cooperation projects, 13 of which were approved. Up till now, ten of them have been implemented with good results. They include: China-ASEAN Information Communication Technology Seminar, Workshop on Understanding Modern China, Personnel Exchange Program (two-way), China-ASEAN Workshop on Seismology, Symposium on China-ASEAN Entrepreneurs Exchange, China-ASEAN High-level Seminar on Social Security, Pesticide Management and Testing Technique Training Course for ASEAN Countries, China-ASEAN Business Net, the Forum on Agricultural Technology and Cooperation in East Asia and China-ASEAN Training Project for Vessel Masters, Chief Engineers and Safety Administrative Personnel on the Lancang-Mekong River. In addition, the other three projects, namely China-ASEAN Training Program on Modern Distance Education, China-ASEAN Functional Food Technology Cooperation Seminar and China-ASEAN Macroeconomic Forum, are under preparation for implementation.

In 2002 China put forward another seven cooperation projects, namely Training Course on Road & Traffic Management and Applicable Technology for ASEAN Countries, China-ASEAN Training Course on Earthquake Prediction Techniques, Agricultural Biotechnology Training Course for ASEAN Countries, Training Program on Information Communication Management & Technology for High/Middle-level Officials and Technicians of ASEAN Countries, the Project of Establishing an ASEAN AIDS Laboratory Network, Workshop on Understanding Modern China, Return Visit by Chinese Delegation to ASEAN and China-ASEAN Seminar on Mass Media Cooperation. All these projects have been approved by the 4th ACJCC Meeting and will be implemented soon.


VII. Scientific and Technological Cooperation

China always attaches importance to and stresses the need of strengthening cooperation among East Asian countries in science and technology. In each of the past few years, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology hosted applicable techniques training courses oriented towards Asian, African, Latin American and East European countries, such as courses on farm machinery, wind power, fungus cultivation, medicine, etc. In 2001, such training courses were designed to accommodate the needs of East Asian countries. When the China-ASEAN Joint Committee on Science and Technology met in Boao, Hainan in October 2001, the two sides put forward a number of proposals on cooperation programs, which mainly include: 1. China-ASEAN Functional Food Technology Cooperation Seminar; 2. China-ASEAN Training Course on Earthquake Prediction Techniques; 3. China-ASEAN Workshop on Transgenic BT Cotton, Hybrid Rice and Disease-resistant Banana; 4. China-ASEAN Training Course on Bioinformatics; 5. Workshop on Space Technology Application to Precision Farming; 6. ASEAN-China Workshop on Marine Science and Technology; 7. Information Resource Service and Management Seminar for ASEAN Countries. As part of the follow-up actions, China Seismological Bureau organized a China-ASEAN Seminar on Seismology in October 2001 and a China Applicable Technology Exhibition was held in Vietnam and Cambodia in December the same year. Other cooperation program will also materialize step by step.


VIII. Cooperation in the Field of Non-traditional Security Issues

At the last Summit, Premier Zhu Rongji proposed that 10+3 countries gradually expand their political and security cooperation while focusing on the basis of economic cooperation and start with the non-traditional security issues. Currently, transnational crimes are of grave concern to all parties. In response, ASEAN has initiated a Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crimes and China, Japan, and ROK will launch a Public Security Ministerial mechanism. With these two mechanisms as the basis, China has suggested that a 10+3 Ministerial Mechanism on Combating Transnational Crimes be established to enhance 10+3 cooperation in this field.

As for drug control, China has jointly launched a sub-regional drug control cooperation mechanism with Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the UNDCP and signed The Plan of Action of ASEAN and China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drug with ASEAN. China also held a four-nation ministerial conference on drug control with Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

Moreover, China submitted a Position Paper on Enhanced Cooperation in the field of Non-Traditional Security Issues at the ARF Senior Official Meeting last May.


IX. Tourism Cooperation

At present, all of the ten ASEAN countries have become destinations for Chinese citizens travelling abroad. In 2001, the number of tourists from ASEAN countries to China totaled 1.984 million, and that from China to ASEAN countries is also continuously on the rise. China has respectively signed governmental tourism cooperation agreements or MOU for tourism cooperation with ASEAN countries including Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar. From 23 to 25 January 2002, the First 10+3 Tourist Ministers Meeting was convened in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, marking the formal launching of tourism cooperation within the 10+3 framework. China hopes that all countries will actively participate in the China International Tourism Fair to be held in Shanghai in November.