24 July 2004	Saturday	06 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

BEIJING, July 23: China is willing to associate itself with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to promote regional peace and development.

"We are looking forward to developing mutually beneficial cooperation with Saarc," said Chinese foreign office spokesperson Zhang Qiyue.

"We believe that Saarc is an important forum for promoting multilateral cooperation among the countries in the region," she told APP. Saarc had been playing a very useful and constructive role for socio-economic development, she said.

China, she said, was glad to see the consistent progress of Saarc and wished it greater success in realizing the goal of economic prosperity for the people of the region. -APP