China has proposed holding a seminar on a tsunami warning system with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Beijing from Jan. 25 to 26, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan in Beijing on Thursday.

Experts from the ASEAN member nations, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and some international organizations would be invited to the seminar, Kong said at a regular news conference.

The proposal was set forth by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in his speech at the international tsunami summit held in Jakarta of Indonesia Thursday, Kong said.

More than 20 government leaders and representatives of international organizations attended the summit designed to coordinate global relief efforts for the tsunami-hit countries in South and Southeast Asia.

Through the seminar, China hopes to establish a mechanism of information exchange and evaluation and a warning system for natural calamities, including earthquakes and tsunamis, with other countries, the spokesman said
 
(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2005)