A Chinese diplomat said on Monday that China will probably sign cooperation agreements with Australia on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and uranium mining during Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming state trips to Australia and neighboring countries.

Liu Jieyi, director of the North American and Oceanian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a news briefing that cooperation ties between China and Australia have seen "good" and "substantial" progress.

"The two sides had a consultation on nuclear cooperation not long ago with many positive results. China believes the cooperation is conducive to the interests of the two countries and two peoples, and the building of an eco-friendly society in China," Liu said.

The cooperation will feature peaceful use of nuclear energy and will be supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.

Liu affirmed that China is not only a big energy consumer but also a big energy producer, and energy imports only play a supplementary role in national energy consumption.

Wen will pay official visits to Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Cambodia, and attend the first China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum to be held in Fiji from April 1 to 8.

Wen will deliver a speech at the opening ceremony of the forum, and will highlight China's policies relating to the Pacific Islands.

Wen will also meet with Pacific island leaders. They are expected to reach a consensus on guidelines for economic cooperation.

Liu said that all the Oceanic countries, including those with no diplomatic relations with China, have been invited to the forum. Further, China has encouraged them to establish or resume diplomatic relations with China as soon as possible.

Chinese official statistics showed that trade volume between China and the Oceanic countries reached US$838 million in 2005, up 58 percent from the previous year.

"China has offered some assistance and made contributions to the economic and social development of the Oceanian countries," Liu said.

During his last leg of the four-nation visit, Wen will probably sign a cooperation agreement on the second phase of the project for the protection of Cambodia's Angkor Wat relics, according to Hu Zhengyao, director of the Asian Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China and Cambodia will also issue a joint agreement on bilateral relations and future cooperation in various fields.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2006)