Chinese president urges Asia to build trust on security

Apr 15, 2011, 11:34 GMT

Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao opened the annual Bo'ao Forum for Asia Friday with a call for the region to build trust to 'enhance common security.'

'We should reject the Cold War mentality and zero-sum approach and advocate a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination,' Hu told 1,400 forum delegates on the southern Chinese tourist island of Hainan.

'We need to accommodate each other's security concerns, demonstrate the utmost goodwill, wisdom and patience in settling differences through dialogue and consultation,' he said.

Asian nations should 'strengthen regional cooperation mechanisms,' he said at the 10th annual Bo'ao Forum, which took the theme of 'inclusive development.'

'We should adhere to open regionalism and respect the presence and interests of countries outside the region,' Hu said.

'As the trend towards multipolarity and economic globalization deepens, the people of Asia have the major task of maintaining both development and stability,' he said.

Hu said Asian nations should restructure their economic growth by developing technology and environmentally friendly industries.

'We need to focus on both the speed and quality of development and ensure both efficiency and quality,' Hu said.

'We need to integrate our effort to develop the economy with that to improve people's well-being and achieve coordinated economic and social development,' he said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, South African President Jacob Zuma, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang Sik, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov all heard Hu's opening speech, reports said.

Topics at the forum included global economic prospects, capital flows and financial supervision in Europe and the United States, organizers said.

The Bo'ao Forum has been held annually in Hainan since 2002. Its founders hoped it would evolve into an Asian version of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.