Premier advocates peace, economic integration at East Asia Summit(2)

China and ASEAN members have identified the dual-track approach for dealing with the South China Sea issue, he said, according to which specific disputes are to be solved through negotiations and consultations by countries directly concerned and peace and stability in the region be jointly upheld by China and ASEAN countries working together.

"China and ASEAN agreed to actively carry out consultation to reach, on the basis of consensus and at an early date, a code of conduct in the South China Sea, for which early harvest has been achieved," Li said.

"In seeking the settlement of disputes, China proposes that relevant countries actively explore joint development, as this is a realistic and effective way to management differences," he added.

China and ASEAN agreed to establish a hotline platform for joint search and rescue at sea among their maritime authorities as well as a senior officials' hotline among foreign ministries of various countries for coping with maritime contingencies, according to the premier.

Various parties are exploring the establishment of a mechanism of exchanges and cooperation among littoral states of the South China Sea, Li said. He also said that China will provide 30 million yuan (4.9 million U.S. dollars) for the East Asia Maritime Cooperation platform.

LOANS, AIDS

At the summit, China offered loans worth over 20 billion dollars to support the Southeast Asian connectivity construction. The offer, including a preferential loan worth 10 billion dollars for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and a 10-billion-dollar special loan set up by China Development Bank for the regional infrastructure development.

Li said that China will also set aside altogether 30 million yuan (4.9 million dollars) in the next three years for the China-ASEAN economic and technical cooperation.

China will start raising 3 billion dollars for the second phase of the China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund, according to the premier. The Fund targets investment opportunities in infrastructure, energy and natural resources in the ASEAN countries.

Li also announced his country's financial support for the ASEAN members in their anti-poverty effort. China will offer assistance worth 3 billion yuan (480 million U.S. dollars) to less developed ASEAN members next year to help the regional bloc reduce poverty.

China will also offer 100 million yuan (16 million dollars) for rural poverty reduction project in East Asia, said Premier Li while attending the East Asia Summit.

China, which regards ASEAN as a priority in its diplomacy with neighboring countries, is the largest trading partner of the 10-member regional bloc. ASEAN has emerged as China's third-largest partner, a major investment destination and an important tourist destination.

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

To achieve regional economic integration, the premier urged cooperation in six key areas, including promoting trade and investment facilitation, accelerating interconnectivity, expanding financial cooperation, stepping up poverty reduction cooperation, advancing maritime cooperation as well as intensifying people-to-people exchanges.

He said that China will work with other parties to conclude negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) before the end of 2015, and called for strengthening financial and fiscal cooperation with a special focus on improving the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization, which is expected to effectively relieve regional short-term liquidity strains.

Leaders at the summit agreed that East Asian countries should further expand dialogues, deepen pragmatic cooperation and advance regional economic integration so as to enhance the peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region and the world at large.