Chinese minister to ASEAN

Chinese minister to ASEAN

BEIJING (AFP): Chinese Foreign Trade Minister Wu Yi, who will
attend the APEC trade ministers meeting in Jakarta on Thursday,
will make official visits to the Philippines and Malaysia, Xinhua
said yesterday.

It will be Wu's first visit to any of the three countries
since she was appointed foreign trade minister a year ago.

Indonesia is China's second largest trading partner in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with bilateral
trade posting a record US$21.4 billion last year.

Sino-Malaysian trade hit $1.8 billion last year, a rise of 21
percent from 1992, while trade with the Philippines totaled a
record $495 million in 1993.

According to Chinese officials quoted by the official news
agency, China and all three countries complement each other
economically and great potential exists for furthering bilateral
trade and economic cooperation.

Wu is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta Oct. 6 at the head of a
Chinese delegation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Organization (APEC) trade ministers' meeting, which is expected
to focus on the agreement reached during the Uruguay round of
GATT talks and issues related to regional free trade.