DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “China pledges to consolidate ties with Cambodia” plus 1 more

URUMQI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday pledged to consolidate China's traditional friendly relations with Cambodia and promote cooperation between the two countries.

The pledge was made by Wen in a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the second China-Eurasia Expo, being held in Urumqi of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China.

"China and Cambodia are intimate neighbors, whose relationship has withstood the test of time and practice," according to Wen.

He said China was ready to consolidate their friendly ties and deepen cooperation in such areas as transportation infrastructure, agriculture and health.

Next year marks the 55th anniversary of China-Cambodia diplomatic relations and the Year of China-Cambodia Friendship. Wen said he hoped this would provide an opportunity to push bilateral ties to a new high.

With regard to the current situation in East Asia, the premier said maintaining unity, developing and strengthening cooperation is the most important task for the region, which is facing some challenges amid a good overall situation.

He voiced appreciation for Cambodia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for its important role in maintaining the overall situation of friendly relations between China and the ASEAN.

China will closely coordinate with Cambodia, and support the country to make the upcoming series of meetings for East Asian leaders a success, the premier said.

He added that China will also work with ASEAN nations to promote East Asian cooperation.

Hun Sen said Cambodia's friendly relations with China, having solid foundations, remain unshakable and will become even firmer as time goes by.

Cambodia is ready to make closer high-level exchanges with China, strengthen their consultation on bilateral and regional affairs, plan cooperation in all areas, strengthen cultural and youth exchanges, and promote the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation, he vowed.

URUMQI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China has made all necessary preparations to host a "safe and fruitful" China-Eurasia Expo in its capital Urumqi, a local official said on Saturday.

Zhu Hailun, secretary of Urumqi's city committee of the Communist Party of China, said the city has made all necessary preparations to make the week-long event "safe, pragmatic, festive and impressive."

The second China-Eurasia Expo will open on Sunday, attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and some foreign leaders.

The city has made complete overhauls of the environment by improving sanitation, increasing green and reinforcing city management. It has also strengthened security by upgrading security-check equipment and implementing strict checking rules at the venues of the expo, Zhu said.

The China-Eurasia Expo was upgraded from a regional trade fair, the 19-year-old China Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair, in September 2011 when the first expo was held.

The expo strives to become an ideal cooperation platform for Eurasian region by using the geographic advantage of Xinjiang.

At the invitation of the expo's organizing committee, President of Kyrgystan Almazbek Atambayev, President of the Maldives Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov, Prime Minister of Tajikistan Akil Akilov, Second Vice President of Afghanistan Mohammad Khalili and Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan will attend the expo, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

Organizers have confirmed that 55 countries and regions, six international organizations, including United Nations Development Program and United Nations Industrial Development Organization, will attend the expo.

"Xinjiang's special location at the heartland of Eurasia has given the expo an irreplaceable competitive edge," said Li Jingyuan, secretary of the expo's secretariat.

Xinjiang, which covers one-sixth of China's landmass, borders key regional players including Kazakhstan and Pakistan. But regional economic activity has been slow partly due to poor infrastructure along the typically harsh terrain of the border region.

"Through the platform of expo, investors and business runners can find in Xinjiang a paramount springboard to reach out to the vast Eurasian land," said Li.

The first expo witnessed the signing of 178 contracts from domestic enterprises to invest in Xinjiang with a total value of 185 billion yuan (29.14 billion U.S. dollars), as well as 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in foreign trade contracts, according to the organizers.