Li Peng wants more ASEAN ties

Li Peng wants more ASEAN ties

SINGAPORE (AFP): Chinese Premier Li Peng called yesterday for a long-term strategy of closer relations with ASEAN economies, including cooperation in the key financial sector.

"The cooperation between China and ASEAN nations should be oriented towards the 21st century," Li told a business forum here on the final day of his three-day official visit to Singapore.

"There exists extensive common interest between us. We need to take firm hold of the converging point where we share our common interests and lift the mutually beneficial cooperation onto a new high," he said.

Li said a key area for strengthening of coordination and cooperation was in the financial arena to ward off international speculation, apparently referring to the currency turmoil in Southeast Asia blamed on foreign speculators.