Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Cebu, the second largest of the Philippines, on Saturday to attend a series of summits and pay an official visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

During his stay in the Philippines, the Chinese premier will attend the 10th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus China, Japan, South Korea (10+3), the 10th China-ASEAN Summit (10+1), the 2nd East Asia Summit. He will also chair the Seventh Trilateral Leaders' Meeting of China, Japan and South Korea.

This would be the fourth time for the Chinese premier to attend such ASEAN-related series of summits since 2003.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said earlier that the 10th China-ASEAN summit (or 10+1) will mainly focus on practical cooperation between the two sides.

Wen will discuss with ASEAN leaders on pragmatic cooperation for 2007 and put forward a batch of specific proposals.

At the 10th Summit of ASEAN Plus China, Japan and South Korea, Wen is expected to exchange views with other leaders on East Asia regional cooperation and on how to build up an East Asian community through the "10+3" mechanism.

At the 2nd East Asia Summit, China will discuss energy security and the future development of the summit itself with other countries so as to enable the summit to play a constructive and active role in enhancing cooperation in this region, Cui said.

China will release several "principle proposals" on energy, avian flu prevention, education, finance and disaster relief, Cui noted.

On the Seventh Trilateral Leaders' Meeting of China, Japan and South Korea, Cui said China is now the coordinating party on the trilateral cooperation and will chair the upcoming meeting.

The Chinese premier would exchange views with Japanese and South Korean leaders on trilateral cooperation and international and regional issues of common concern.

On the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, the Chinese premier is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Inidan Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders.

After attending the summits in Cebu, the Chinese premier will fly to Manila, capital of the Philippines, to pay an official visit and hold talks with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The two countries will sign a series of cooperative agreements on economics and trade, infrastructure construction and preservation of cultural relics.

The Chinese premier will leave for Beijing on Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua