Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

I am very glad to attend the Annual Conference 2007 of the Boao Forum for Asia and to meet you, old friends and new ones. First of all, I wish to extend, on behalf of the Chinese Government, warm congratulations on the opening of the conference and best wishes to all the conference participants.

In the past six years since its founding, the Boao Forum for Asia has been steadily enhanced thanks to your support and participation. It has played an important role in advancing cooperation and common prosperity in Asia. We are confident that through our concerted efforts, the Boao Forum will grow into an important regional platform of dialogue for promoting business cooperation and common development in Asia.

The theme of this annual conference, namely Asia Winning in Today's Global Economy-Innovation and Sustainable Development, is a significant one, as it gives full expression to the need for development and prosperity in Asia. I have listened with keen interest to the excellent speeches made by President Macapagal Arroyo, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Mr. Bill Gates. Now I would like to share with you my views on this topic.

Asia is a vast continent with time-honored history, splendid culture, rich resources and a large population. We Asians are hard working people. After the mid-20th century, most Asian countries gained independence, and they now enjoy peace and stability. Many Asian countries and regions have achieved leap-frog economic development; emerging industrial nations and regions have risen; and life is getting better for the Asian people. Since 2000, Asia's GDP has grown by over 6 percent annually, contributing to 20 percent of the world economic growth. Today, Asia's economy, trade and foreign exchange reserves respectively makes up one fourth, one third and three fourths of the world's total. What is particularly encouraging is that the sustained development in individual Asian countries has led to increasingly closer economic links within the region, flourishing regional dialogue and cooperation, expanding common interests and heightening awareness of the Asian identity. Development and cooperation in Asia are enjoying unprecedented momentum. Asia has become the most dynamic region with the greatest development potential in the world and an engine driving world economic growth. It is playing an increasingly important role in promoting the noble cause of peace and development of mankind. We have full confidence in Asia's future.

The profound changes that are taking place in Asia represent an important trend of human progress. They reflect the aspiration of Asian people to build a peaceful, cooperative and harmonious Asia and stimulate creative thinking as we strive to realize political harmony, economic equality and mutual benefit, security cooperation and mutual trust and cultural exchanges. We Asian countries and regions have developed many shared values in the course of promoting peaceful development. They are our precious asset which we should summarize, enrich and carry forward in our development endeavors.

First, maintain peace in Asia. Peace is essential for Asia's development. For years, Asian countries and regions have made unremitting efforts to maintain peace and stability on the continent. This has enabled Asia to enter a new era of stable and peaceful development. Peace, development and cooperation are now the general trend in Asia. On the other hand, Asia still faces many problems and conflicts. Hotspot issues keep emerging and traditional and non-traditional security threats are interconnected. In the face of these threats and challenges, we should uphold the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, foster a new thinking on security focusing on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination, promote the establishment of a new international political and economic order that is fair and equitable, enhance mutual understanding and trust through dialogue and cooperation, and settle differences through peaceful negotiation. We should accommodate each other's interests and concerns, properly handle both issues left over from history and current problems and work together to maintain security and stability in Asia.

Second, enhance regional cooperation. Cooperation is an important way to accelerate development in Asia. Although Asia is still in the initial stage of economic integration, the Asian countries and regions are eager to enhance win-win cooperation, and regional and sub-regional cooperation is in full swing. A number of cooperation mechanisms have been set up and are functioning well. They include ASEAN plus China, Japan and the ROK, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and East Asia Summit. Exchanges and cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields have enhanced common development. Regional cooperation is becoming more comprehensive in coverage and well coordinated. It is expected that with the world moving closer to multipolarity and economic globalization gathering momentum, regional cooperation in Asia will be steadily enhanced and this will benefit not only Asia but also other regions in the world. We should make full use of the existing cooperation mechanisms, expand cooperation to more areas, improve ways of cooperation and raise cooperation efficiency to boost regional cooperation in Asia.

Third, accelerate scientific and technological innovation. Innovation provides an inexhaustible source of strength for Asia's development. The human society has entered a new era of unprecedented and dynamic scientific and technological innovation. The growth of wealth and the increase of people's well-being increasingly hinge on the accumulation of knowledge and innovation. In the face of the global trend of scientific and technological development and fierce competition, only by giving top priority to scientific and technological innovation can we Asian countries seize the opportunity and take the lead in development. Therefore, cooperation in science and technology should figure prominently in regional cooperation. We should expand such cooperation to cover more areas, and upgrade it so as to strengthen Asia's overall capacity for and