Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Zhang Qiyue said Thursday China will continue to promote ties with Southeast Asian countries as they were indispensable development partners.

Zhang, formerly Foreign Ministry spokeswoman and Chinese ambassador to Belgium, told Xinhua that the nations of Southeast Asia were an important part of China's geopolitical strategy.

Zhang said her experience in Indonesia had influenced her ideas on deepening practical cooperation.

China should stress trade, economic and infrastructure cooperation, and work with Southeast Asian nations to tackle the economic crisis, she said.

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to launch the world's largest free trade zone in 2010.

Zhang said China and the Southeast Asian countries were "highly complementary" in economy and trade, and they could realize progress in friendly, peaceful cooperation on the platform of free trade zone.

Oil and gas, minerals and palm oil from Southeast Asia offered resource support for China's construction, while China's mechanical equipment, electronic and consumer products fed the Southeast Asia market, she said.

Trade between ASEAN and China rose by 14 percent to 231.12 billion U.S. dollars last year despite the global economic slowdown.

Zhang said some ASEAN countries, like Indonesia, had weak infrastructure and lacked funds, and some Chinese contracting companies were qualified to do business abroad, she said.

In June, Indonesia's longest cross-sea bridge, the Suramadu Bridge, was completed with preferential loans from China. The bridge, which links East Java province and Madura Island, was mainly contracted to a Chinese firm.

The bridge has become a tourist attraction, Zhang said, and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hailed it as a symbol of Sino-Indonesian friendship and cooperation.

China also offered assistance to nations in the region to help them through the economic situation, including the establishment of 10-billion-U.S.-dollar fund for investment cooperation, 15 billion U.S. dollars of loans, and bilateral currency swap agreements with some ASEAN nations.

China also planned to offer 270 million yuan (39.7 million U.S. dollars) in special aid to less developed countries like Cambodia and Laos.

Without political conditions attached, China's assistance was highly praised by the ASEAN nations, Zhang said.

The interests of China and its neighbors were intertwined in an unprecedented way, Zhang said.

Source: Xinhua