Lima, Jan. 27, 2005

It is my pleasure to visit the General Secretariat of the Andean Community --an organization with recognized prestige-- and to meet with the Foreign Ministers of the Andean Community Member Countries. I would like to thank Peru for its cordial invitation, as the incumbent of the CAN’s Pro Tempore Secretariat, and the Foreign Ministers for having traveled to Lima in order to meet with me. I am especially appreciative of the unflagging efforts of the CAN Foreign Ministers and of its Secretary General to promote our relations, which are worthy of our esteem and gratitude.

The Andean Community is one of the longest standing regional integration organizations in Latin America. It opened the doors to Latin American integration and, as such, enjoys great prestige and is highly influential. In recent years, it has had to cope with a variety of problems in order to continue furthering integration and its successes are noteworthy. China admires you deeply.

Relations between China and the Andean Community have advanced felicitously in recent years thanks to the efforts of the two parties. In the first place, both have fostered frequent high-level visits and mutual political trust has grown. In the second, trade relations between the two parties have expanded into a multiplicity of modalities. An outstanding example of this is that the Andean Community is one of the recipients of China’s concentrated investments in the region. In the third, the two parties share identical or similar positions on international affairs and are cooperating and coordinating increasingly closely.

We support each other and understand each other. Together, we contribute to world peace and development. We are highly pleased to note that as cooperation between China and the Andean Community has deepened, the institutionalization of Chinese-Andean cooperation has also increased gradually. In addition to existing bilateral consultation mechanisms, in 2002 we launched the Mechanism for Political Consultation and Cooperation between China and the CAN. Through two rounds of consultations, we have developed a series of programs of cooperation and exchanges on varying aspects like the economy, trade, telecommunications, and human resource training, many of which are already being put into practice in coordination. All of this has allowed the mechanism to move ahead in sound and effective steps to a level of maturity that benefits our nations.

Messrs. Foreign Ministers and Mr. Secretary General, the Chinese party attributes a great deal of priority to its Mechanism on Political Consultation and Cooperation with the Andean Community and considers it a highly important element in the construction of a cooperation mechanism between China and Latin America and of South-South cooperation. In the future, China will strive, in a positive and enterprising spirit and with well-defined and practical priorities, to progressively concentrate on building those mechanisms, together with the Andean party. I would like to put forward the following proposals to those ends:

First, to keep up the mechanism for regular collective consultations among our Vice-Ministers of Foreign Affairs and to enrich it by adding new contents so that it can play a guiding role in bilateral cooperation.

Second, to reinforce our cooperation in the telecommunications, energy and infrastructure sectors. China and the CAN complement each other strongly in those sectors, where broad prospects for cooperation exist. The Chinese Government invites the officials and businessmen of the five CAN member countries to visit China in order to investigate opportunities and also hopes that the Andean countries can offer even more favorable environments for our countries’ people and enterprises, so that they can engage in exchanges and cooperation. We would also like to ask the CAN’s help in getting the People’s Bank of China admitted to the IDB and getting authorization for Chinese enterprises to participate in competitive bids for Andean infrastructure.

Third, to establish a China-CAN business forum and to hold commission and investment promotion seminars so that enterprises can increase their contacts and knowledge about the terms and investments of other countries.

Fourth, to reinforce agricultural cooperation. China is an agricultural power and the Andean countries also have plentiful agricultural resources. China and the CAN are already engaged in an excellent cooperative effort: the building of a model farm and the cultivation of fruit trees and China is willing to continue strengthening its cooperation with the agricultural parties of the CAN Member Countries in the areas of crop raising, pest control and treatment, infections, stockbreeding and the production of farm machinery.

Fifth, to develop our cooperation in the quality supervision and quarantine sectors. The pertinent departments of the two parties can create a framework of cooperation for the execution of our exchange and training projects on pest control, oversight, prevention and supervision and we can also cooperate on standardization.

Sixth, we can deepen our cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking. Both China and the CAN are threatened by illegal drugs and the Chinese party is willing to reinforce its cooperation with the Andean party in the area of legislation to control drug trafficking, education on the prevention and treatment of drug addiction, the exchange of information, the control of chemical precursors, and alternative crops. We would like to strengthen our coordination and cooperation in the various multilateral forums that address the problem.

Seventh, to develop exchanges and cooperation on antipoverty efforts, with a view toward eliminating poverty. Narrowing the gap between rich and poor is the challenge we both face in our countries’ development and economy. We are willing to jointly undertake investigations of antipoverty efforts and to exchange information and experiences in that area with the Andean party. The Chinese party invites the pertinent departments of the five countries to visit China to look into and investigate the country’s antipoverty studies. China’s International Antipoverty Center is willing to offer the five countries training courses on the elimination of poverty.

Eighth, to continue promoting press exchanges and journalistic cooperation. The Chinese party is willing to foster communications with the government journalism departments of the five Andean countries and to foster the specialized cooperation of our press. China’s central television station is willing to cooperate with local partners so they can receive its television signals in the five countries. We hope to obtain the support of their governments in this effort.

Ninth, to develop interparliamentary cooperation between the two parties. Interparliamentary exchanges are an extremely important element of Chinese-Andean cooperation. China’s Legislative Assembly is willing to engage in friendly cooperation with the Andean Parliament.

Tenth, to continue our human resource training efforts, which are an excellent tradition in Chinese-Andean cooperation. We invite the Andean party to continue sending us their youth or officials to participate in the course for young diplomats, the course for high-level officials, the course on reciprocal trade and investment, and the course on economic growth. In addition to these and to the antipoverty course, the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources is going to offer a new course this year on the management and sustained development of oil and gas resources. We invite the CAN Member Countries to participate in it.

Mr. Secretary General, Messrs. Foreign Ministers, the establishment of the Mechanism on Political Consultation and Cooperation between China and the CAN has helped deepen our relations. The Chinese party is highly pleased and thanks the Andean Community General Secretariat, and above all the Secretary General, for their active role in promoting relations between China and the CAN. The Chinese party wishes to make a 1 million Yuan donation for the procurement of office equipment for the General Secretariat. We sincerely hope this will attract assistance for the efforts of your Secretariat.

(Garbled).

This law fully reflects the will to harmonize efforts to achieve … We are highly appreciative of the correct position taken by the respective governments of the Andean Community … we hope and trust that they will continue to support the great cause of China’s peaceful unification, that they will remain alert to activities …

Messrs. Foreign Ministers, Mr. Secretary General, I would like to emphasize that we always have the will to continue reinforcing our cooperation so that, in a pragmatic and enterprising spirit, we may further develop that cooperation for our mutual benefit.

Thank-you very much.

(*) Unofficial version