Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

It is a great pleasure for me to join you at the 2nd GMS Summit here in Kunming, a city teeming with splendid blossom and enormous vitality. Let me begin by extending, on behalf of the Chinese Government and the Chinese people, a warmest welcome to our prestigious guests from Cambodia, the Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

More than 10 years ago, the ADB initiated the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program (GMS Program), which is proven in practice a program assuming an increasingly important role for economic growth of this region. Three years ago in Phnom Penh, at our first gathering, leaders of the six countries of us articulated a joint commitment to taking forward the GMS economic cooperation. Today, we are meeting once again to take stock of the path we have covered and map out the future road of cooperation. It is highly meaningful for our stronger partnership and common prosperity.

In the world today, the quickening pace of economic globalization and regional integration has made countries more dependent on each other by way of mutually beneficial economic cooperation. As the economically most dynamic continent in the world, Asia has embraced a number of regional and subregional cooperation programs. Thanks to such cooperation that is equal-footed, proactive, pragmatic, diversified, open and inclusive, countries in Asia have enhanced political mutual trust and expanded common interests, adding a new boost to Asia's economic development.

As far as the GMS is concerned, our countries sit next to each other and share similar cultures, sound political ties and close people-to-people contacts. All of us are at a critical stage of development. These have necessitated and enabled our mutually beneficial cooperation. Since the inception of the GMS Program, we have conducted cooperation in such areas as transportation, energy, telecommunications, trade, investment, tourism, environment, human resources and agriculture, effectively carried out over 100 specific cooperation programs and completed a number of flagship projects. As a result, it has promoted the economic and social development in the GMS countries, benefited tens of thousands of people, particularly the poor, and contributed to peace in this region and beyond.

More than ten years on, the GMS Program has not only reaped bounty fruits, but also left us a host of successful practices and experience. They could be summarized as follows:

-Conducting equal-footed consultation with mutual respect. The GMS countries, although divergent in size and level of development, are all equal members in the Program. We must foster mutual trust, treat each other with sincerity, seek common ground while shelving differences and cooperate in a mutually beneficial way, enabling different voices to be heard, various requests to be addressed and common interests to be protected.

-Focusing on practical results through closer cooperation. Projects shall be chosen in the light of varying development needs of different countries and regions. A full and rational use of the cooperation fund is also a guarantee that benefits are shared by as many people as possible.

-Listing priorities and proceeding in an orderly fashion. Success and practicality are attainable when resources and cooperation efforts are concentrated on projects that will give a strong push to the economy. At the same time, cooperation in other areas shall be carried out in steps and phases.

-Coordinating actions with an overall planning. Alongside economic cooperation, vigorous efforts must be devoted to, among others, human resources development and environmental protection. Apart from infrastructure improvement, institutional innovation and policy adjustment will also contribute to better subregional climate for trade and investment.

The afore-mentioned practices and experience reflect different characteristics and requirements of various members and serve the common interests and shared goals of all of us as well. They embody the flexibility and pragmatism of the GMS cooperation and underpin its longevity. No wonder they have been widely endorsed by all parties, and we should carry them forward on a long-term basis.

Since the GMS Program came into being, China has always been an ardent and pragmatic participant. My country is both a beneficiary of and a contributor to the GMS. China has funded the Kunming-Bangkok Highway project and the navigation channel improvement project on the Upper Mekong River and provided training programs for more than 500 people on agriculture, customs affairs and telecommunications. In 2004, China set up a special fund totaling US$20 million under the ADB for cooperation among Asian developing countries on human resources development and poverty alleviation.

Thanks to the active participation and support of the ADB, the GMS Program has produced real results, for which we are grateful to the ADB. Over the past 13 years, by providing direct loans worth US$1.18 billion and fund for technical assistance worth US$140 million, the ADB has facilitated our subregional cooperation and made itself a worthy partner of GMS members. We are expecting the ADB to assume a greater role in future cooperation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Despite notable progress in the GMS economies, we still have a long way before achieving comprehensive economic prosperity and social development. We must follow the trends of the times and stay committed to mutually beneficial cooperation for a win-win situation and greater strength for all. In order to promote common prosperity, we need to consolidate past achievements, widen cooperation areas and raise cooperation levels. I hereby wish to put forward the following recommendations for stronger GMS economic cooperation:

1. To step up infrastructure building. Improved infrastructure provides an important basis for GMS economic and social development. We need to continue to implement cooperation projects on transport, energy, telecommunications and other sectors, expedite the construction of transport links along the North-South, East-West and Southern corridors, further develop shipping infrastructure and the information super-highway, and facilitate GMS power grids integration and power trade, thus laying the groundwork for regional economic and trade cooperation.

2. To advance trade and investment facilitation. Stronger GMS economic cooperation must be conducted in a policy and institutional environment that is fair, open and transparent and under proactive government guidance. We need to speed up negotiation on the annexes and protocols of the GMS Cross-border Transport Agreement, faithfully implement the GMS Strategic Framework for Action on Trade Facilitation and Investment (SFA-TFI), promote interactions between GMS trade and investment facilitation and China-ASEAN Free Trade Area to create an enabling environment for the flow of goods and personnel exchanges and help make substantial headway in our trade and investment cooperation in the next few years. I hereby announce that China has decided to individually expand the range of products eligible for preferential tariff from the Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar as of January 1, 2006 with an aim to raise the level of intra-regional trade cooperation.

3. To deepen cooperation on agricultural development. Given the large rural population, low farmer income and underdeveloped agriculture in the GMS countries, it is of vital importance to develop agriculture and the rural areas. We should endeavor to broaden exchanges and cooperation on agricultural technologies and information, accelerate the building of agricultural information websites, work for an early signing of the GMS agricultural cooperation MOU, convene a GMS agriculture ministers' meeting in due course for discussions on ways to develop modern agriculture.

4. To underscore conservation of natural resources and the environment. The GMS is rich in natural resources, but ecologically fragile. All GMS countries should make rational planning for sound resource development and better eco-system planning and environmental protection, thereby taking the road of sustainable development. We must reinforce our information sharing and law-enforcement cooperation on the conservation of natural resources and the environment and actively implement the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative.

5. To strengthen human resources training. Capacity building for the labor force holds the key to GMS economic prosperity and social progress. We should build on the success of Phnom Penh Plan and other initiatives to explore human resources training in multiple forms on medical care, health, education, culture and other subjects, which will raise the scientific and cultural knowledge as well as vocational skills of all workers in the GMS.

6. To promote health cooperation. All GMS countries face the task of improving the medical system and people's health. We need to intensify cooperation on the prevention and control of avian flu, HIV/AIDS and other major communicable diseases, set up surveillance networks for such diseases, notify one another on disease situation, conduct joint prevention and control, and improve our capabilities of preventing and controlling communicable diseases and making emergency responses to public health contingencies. To this end, China proposes to establish a GMS Health Forum to coordinate and promote health cooperation.

7. To explore financing for development through multiple channels. Deeper GMS cooperation requires steady and sustained financial commitment. The Chinese side will continue to give financial support within its capacity to the subregional cooperation. We welcome the long-term support from the ADB. It is hoped that all our development partners will provide more assistance for GMS cooperation from a long-term perspective. In this connection we encourage and support the participation of the business sector.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

All GMS countries are close neighbors of China. Nourished by the same river, our peoples have fostered long-standing friendship. As we Chinese often say, "A close neighbor is more helpful than a distant relative." To establish and develop good-neighborly relations and friendship with our neighboring countries is the consistent policy of the Chinese Government. As early as half a century ago, China put forward the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" for handling state-to-state relations, advocating that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, should be equal. After the new century began, we formulated the neighborhood policy of building friendship and partnership with our neighboring countries, further committing ourselves to cementing partnership with our neighbors and remaining their true and good neighbor, partner and friend, which is a solemn pledge and unswerving long-term policy of the Chinese Government. We are resolved to work together with other countries to further consolidate and develop our traditional friendship and constantly expand our equal-footed and mutually beneficial cooperation so as to jointly foster a secure and stable regional environment, thus paving the way for regional economic and social development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After 26 years of reform and opening-up, China has blazed a path of development suited to its own national conditions. The country's economy keeps growing fast; its overall national strength constantly improves; and its people's living standards are remarkably better. Despite the impressive growth of the Chinese economy as a whole, we must be sober enough to recognize the fact that China's per capita GDP ranks lower than the 100th in the world due to its huge population. There are still tens of millions of poor people in the country, plus an uneven domestic regional development, serious resources constraints and mounting environmental pressure, presenting a great number of difficulties and problems on its way ahead. There is still a very long way to go before China modernizes itself, which will require strenuous efforts of several or even a dozen of generations. China unswervingly pursues a path of peaceful development. In the process of development, China will mainly count on itself, but it also needs better cooperation with the outside, particularly with its neighbors. China not only pursues its own well-being and development, but also seeks common prosperity for all countries. I firmly believe that China's development not only benefits its more than one billion people, but also presents development opportunities to other countries, its neighbors in particular, thus contributing to prosperity and stability of the region and the world at large.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

China is happy and ready to join hands with other GMS countries to work for our common development and prosperity through deeper and fuller cooperation. May our friendship and cooperation run as long and deep as the Lancang-Mekong River.

I also wish to take the opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all countries, people, international organizations and personages in the Greater Mekong Subregion and the world at large that have given their understanding, support and assistance to China's development. To conclude, I wish the meeting a complete success and all the distinguished guests good health and a pleasant time in Kunming.

Thank you.