Chinese PM meets leaders of South Korea, Indonesia, Cambodia, New Zealand

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with leaders of South Korea, Indonesia, Cambodia and New Zealand Thursday on the sidelines of the 8th East Asia summit. When meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Li said that to strengthen strategic communication and practical cooperation between China and South Korea is conducive to peace and development of the region. China stands ready to keep high-level contacts and expand cultural and people-to-people exchange with South Korea, Li said, adding that his country is also ready to actively push forward the construction of a China-South Korea free trade area and raise bilateral cooperation to a higher level. Park said her country is willing to work with China to comprehensively implement the cooperation consensus between the two countries, accelerate negotiations on a free trade agreement, deepen cooperation in various fields and advance the South Korea-China relationship. When meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Li noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping has just had a successful visit to the Southeast Asian country. China stands ready to work with Indonesia to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership to benefit the people of the two countries and the region as a whole, Li said. For his part, Yudhoyono said Indonesia and China share broad consensus on international and regional issues, and his country is willing to enhance high-level exchanges with China and comprehensively boost cooperation in various areas, so as to push for greater development of bilateral relations. During meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, Li said China supports the Cambodian people's independent choice of development path and efforts to realize bigger achievements in national construction. Hun Sen, for his part, said the Cambodian people will never forget China's long-time help and support. This year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Cambodia-China diplomatic ties, and Cambodia is ready to join hands with China to push forward the bilateral relations, he said. In meeting with his New Zealand counterpart John Key, Li noted that the free trade agreement China and New Zealand signed five years ago has brought about tangible benefits to the two peoples. China is ready to enhance strategic communication with New Zealand and expand cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, food safety and infrastructure construction, in a bid to lift China-New Zealand ties to a new level, Li said. Key, for his part, said News Zealand and China have maintained close high-level contacts, and bilateral relations have been developing soundly. New Zealand is ready to expand cooperation with China and properly address the issue of food safety, to ensure that bilateral cooperation can produce more results. The Chinese premier also had a brief meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, exchanging views on boosting the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between their countries. Li arrived here on Wednesday to attend a series of East Asian leaders' meetings and visit the country, the first leg of his maiden Southeast Asia tour since taking office in March. The trip will also take him to Thailand and Vietnam.