Today, I am very pleased to be invited to the Symposium on the Issues of East Asia, which has provided me with an opportunity to meet old friends and establish new contacts and address the meeting.

In retrospect, profound changes have taken place in East Asia and tremendous progress has been made in the fields of politics, economy, culture, and science and technology.

Looking ahead, we can say with full confidence that relatively sound conditions exist for East Asia to raise its economic and social development to a new level.

East Asian countries enjoys political stability as well as good relations among themselves, This has provided an important prerequisite for the sustained economic growth of East Asian countries and the development of the cooperation.