Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen before the 15th China-ASEAN summit which is co-chaired by them in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 19, 2012. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and leaders of ASEAN countries attended the summit here on Monday. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

PROMOTING BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

On the sidelines of the meetings, Premier Wen met with leaders of many countries and exchanged views with them on bilateral relations, regional situation and cooperation in East Asia.

In a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Wen said the two countries should stick to the direction of building the bilateral cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit and consolidate and enhance bilateral mechanisms, including the Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the high-level consultation on people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries should also further promote bilateral economic and trade relations by conducting large-scale cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, finance and infrastructure, he said.

He also called on the two countries to intensify communication and consultation on international and regional affairs, and especially work with other Asia-Pacific countries to safeguard and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

Obama said U.S.-China cooperation is vital to the security and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and in the world. The United States would continue to commit itself to working with China to build a strong cooperative partnership and maintain and advance the sound development momentum in bilateral ties, he said.

The U.S. president said that Washington hopes such mechanism as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue would continue and develop, and that the two countries will enhance cooperation to jointly deal with global challenges and threats.