China, ROK deepen all-round cooperative partnership
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-15 11:48

SEOUL - Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to Republic of Korea (ROK) Wednesday is hoped to further deepen all-round cooperative partnership between the two neighboring countries.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in August 1992, Sino-ROK ties have made rapid development in various aspects.

In 1998, top leaders of the two countries decided to forge cooperative partnership toward the 21st century. Only two years later, the two neighbors announced to push Sino-ROK ties to a new stage of all-round development.

During the summit meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Beijing in July 2003, the two leaders agreed to promote the bilateral good neighborly friendship to all-round cooperative partnership.

Although only 13 years have passed since China and ROK forged diplomatic ties, the two countries already regard the other side as an important partner and make friendly cooperation in politics, economy, culture, science and technology.

China and ROK have become important trade partners, providing energetic power to bilateral ties.

China is the biggest trade partner of ROK and the No. 1 destination of investment made by ROK's enterprises. Meanwhile, ROK is the fourth largest trade partner of China and third largest import source.

The trade volume between the two countries reached 5.03 billion US dollars in 1992 and surged to 90 billion dollars in 2004.

The goal, set by Hu and Roh to increase bilateral trade volume up to 100 billion dollars by 2007, is expected to be realized in advance by the end this year.
Civic exchanges between the two countries also developed rapidly.

There are 850 flights flying between China and the ROK every week. Last year witnessed 2.85 million South Korean people visit China and 550,000 Chinese people tour South Korea.

"Korea Wave" and "Chinese Wind" became a unique scenic of bilateral exchanges.
A total of 359 South Korean dramas have been displayed at Chinese television stations. On-line games developed by South Korean companies are popular in China. South Korean singers, actors and actresses have a lot of fans in China.

At the same time, more and more South Korean people want to learn more about China.
The first Chinese Culture Center in Asia opened in Seoul at the end of 2004, providing a window for local people to experience Chinese culture.

The first Confucius institute in the world also launched in Seoul late last year to promote Chinese language teaching in South Korea.

Some 23,000 South Korean people attended the HSK (test of Chinese language level) examinations in 2004, standing almost 77 percent of the total attendants of the HSK.
Exchanges between the youth of the two countries were proceeding well. Up to now, a total of 43,000 South Korean students are studying in China and nearly 10,000 Chinese students in South Korea.

China and ROK also made cooperation in maintaining regional peace and stability. The two sides are both participants of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus China, South Korea and Japan forum. The two countries also made coordination and cooperation in the United Nations and other international organizations.

Moreover, the two countries closely cooperate in the process of resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, making joint contribution to realizing denuclearization of the peninsula.

China and the ROK share common responsibilities of maintaining regional peace and stability, and shoulder common task of facilitating economic development.

Closed cooperation between the two countries can strengthen mutual understanding and trust, forging good-neighborliness and friendship as well as win-win situation.