In the face of the international financial crisis, it is important for China and other Asian countries to be more creative and take more pioneering steps, so that our Asian economy will be one of the first to walk out of the shadow cast by the financial crisis. To be more specific, we will continue to promote "10+1" (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] plus China) and "10+3" (ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea) cooperation. We will advance the multilateralization of the Chiang Mai Initiative, establish the Asian capital market and put in place the "10+3" regional foreign exchange reserve pooling. We will promote our cooperation with countries in the Greater Mekong River sub-region and enhance cooperation with the member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

China, Japan and South Korea should all set good examples in opposing trade and investment protectionism. Last year, China-Japan trade exceeded $200 billion and China-South Korea trade approached $200 billion. Efforts to continue to expand our market shares in one another's countries will help boost the confidence of people in Asia in meeting the financial crisis. It will also serve the interests of the peoples in all three countries and in Asia at large.

Korean Peninsula

Important progress has been made in the six-party talks and we should cherish that progress. It is true that now the talks have encountered some difficulties. But I think it is natural for people to encounter difficulties when negotiating the settlement of such a complicated issue. What is important is that all relevant parties should earnestly implement the agreement reached on September 19, 2005. They should work together toward their shared goal, complete the remaining actions in the second phase as early as possible, and bring the talks into the third phase. As the host of the six-party talks, China will continue to play its unique and constructive role for continued progress in the talks.

We are aware of the North Korean announcement that it will launch an experimental communications satellite. We have also taken note of the reactions of the relevant countries. We are following the development of the situation. We are of the view that safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula serves the interests of all relevant parties. We hope that all parties will do more things conducive to this.

Joint research has already been laun-ched between Chinese and South Korean government officials, entrepreneurs and academics on the establishment of a China-South Korea free trade area (FTA). I believe it is of great significance for both countries to push forward such discussions and research, launch relevant negotiations and establish the FTA at an early date. I hope the two sides will make joint efforts and meet each other halfway.

China and Africa

Traditional friendship and cooperation between China and African countries have been raised to a new level. In 2006, the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was held in China. On behalf of the Chinese Government, President Hu Jintao announced eight major policy measures supporting development in African countries. Good progress is being made in the implementation of some of these measures, while other measures have already been completed. Leaders from some African countries told Chinese leaders that their countries are so poor that they have nothing to give us and all they can give us is a sincere heart. We are deeply touched by these words. We are close brothers and friends. Not long ago, President Hu Jintao visited some African countries. During the trip, he made it clear that China will continue to support African development and support greater say and representation of African countries and the African continent as a whole in international and regional affairs.

I would like to say that China is not a country that sets its eyes only on the wealthy and oil-rich countries while looking down on those countries that are poor or without oil. You may ask African countries without rich oil and gas reserves whether they have a better impression of China or other countries. Our energy and resource cooperation with African countries is based on mutual benefit. Our African brothers and friends have waited for hundreds of years to translate their latent resources into real riches. Should they continue to wait? Some people advise them to continue to wait. Is it moral to do so? Are these people in a position to provide such advice? Our cooperation with Africa is based on mutual benefit. We will continue to pursue such mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.

On the Sahara-related issue, I hope that the relevant parties will engage in dialogue and consultation for proper resolution. On the issue of Darfur, our position has always been to promote dialogue and peace talks. We hope to see continued progress in both peacekeeping operations and the political process in Darfur. We will continue to support the role of the tripartite mechanism involving the African Union, the UN and the Sudanese Government as the main channel. We have provided assistance to people in Sudan and people in Darfur. We have provided people in Darfur with aid goods worth 140 million yuan ($20 million). We have also made donations to the African Union Mission in Sudan and the UN trust fund for the Darfur political process. Our companies in Sudan have helped sink wells and provide equipment to local schools in Darfur. In addition, China is among the first to send a multifunctional contingent of military engineers to Darfur. We hope to see an early resolution of the Darfur issue. We hope that all relevant parties will do things to facilitate this, not the opposite.