China and Pakistan signed a wide-ranging joint statement Saturday on bilateral relations, international and regional situation, economic and trade cooperation, military cooperation and anti-terrorism.

 

The joint statement was signed during Chinese President Hu Jintao's current state visit to Pakistan.

 

The statement hailed Hu's current visit in Pakistan as being highly successful and recalled the history of development of friendly relations and cooperation between China and Pakistan, particularly highlighting the importance of relations and cooperation between the two countries.

 

It is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and conducive to regional peace and development to strengthen good-neighborliness and friendship, conduct mutually-beneficial cooperation and enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries, said the statement.

 

The statement specified that China and Pakistan will further strengthen high-level exchanges in various areas and promote bilateral cooperation in such fields as trade and economy, manufacture, agriculture, information industry, infrastructure construction, human resources development, banking, tourism, defense, anti-terrorism, and international and regional relations.

 

Regional and international cooperation

 

In the statement, China reaffirmed its respect for Pakistan's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and expressed appreciation and support for the efforts made by Pakistan to promote peace and stability in South Asia and to safeguard its sovereignty and independence.

 

And Pakistan, for its part, recognized that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and that Taiwan is an alienable part of China, reaffirming its full support for China's peaceful reunification.

 

The two sides agreed to continue communication and coordination on regional and international issues in a joint effort to consolidate solidarity and cooperation among the developing countries, safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in the process of globalization, and promote regional and global peace, security and prosperity, the statement said.

 

Economic and trade cooperation

 

The two sides believed that broad prospects have emerged in the bilateral economic and trade ties in recent years, the statement said.

 

Both sides decided to put trade in services on fast track to make FTA (Free Trade Agreement) on goods and services more comprehensive, it said, adding they agreed to increase their bilateral trade to over US$15 billion in the next five years.

 

The two sides took note of the achievements of and potential for cooperation in the manufacturing sector and decided to strengthen cooperation in household appliances, automobile and textile industries, according to the statement.

 

Furthermore, they also agreed to strengthen comprehensive project cooperation in the energy sector, including fossil fuels, coal, hydro-power, nuclear power, renewable sources of energy as well as in the mining and resources sector, it said.

 

To facilitate people-to-people exchanges and trade and economic cooperation between the western region of China and Pakistan, China agreed to set up a Pakistan Consulate General in Chengdu, it said.

 

Military cooperation

 

China and Pakistan expressed satisfaction on close cooperation between their defense ministries as well as the two militaries at various level and in various fields in recent years, the statement said.

 

It added that the two sides decided to continue all-round cooperation including the exchanges of group visits and consultation on national defense and personnel training.

 

Anti-terrorism

 

In the statement, the two sides shared the view that the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism pose grave threats to regional peace, stability and security.

 

They reaffirmed their commitment to substantive cooperation under bilateral and multilateral frameworks to jointly combat the three evil forces, and maintain regional peace, stability and security.

 

Hu arrived on Thursday for a state visit to Pakistan. It is the last leg of Hu's four-nation Asia tour, which has already taken him to Vietnam, Laos and India.

 

The visit also coincides with the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2006)