1.Statement at the Opening Ceremony

Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, please permit me, on behalf of the Chinese and other Asian delegations, to express our heart-felt thanks for the thoughtful arrangements and warm hospitality of the host countrySpain. This is yet further contribution made by the Spanish government to the ASEM process. It is my belief that under Your Excellency's outstanding stewardship and with the concerted cooperation of the participating delegations, this conference will surely achieve great success.

It is the trend of the current times to strive for peace, seek stability, pursue development and promote cooperation. These are also the common aspiration of the peoples of the countries of the world and the goals of the Asian and European peoples and countries. There is no conflict of fundamental interest betweenAsiaandEuropeand they maintain the same or similar views on numerous major international issues. The Asian-European countries care for and are devoted to the maintenance of world peace and stability and respect the diversity of the world. They stand for meeting the common challenges faced byAsiaandEuropeand the international community through dialogue and cooperation and work hard to facilitate the common development and prosperity of the countries and regions of the world. These common points have enabled ASEM process to keep up a good momentum of development since its inception. The political dialogue, economic and trade cooperation and social and cultural exchanges between all the partners have continually deepened and their areas have incessantly expanded with more enriched results. Asian-European cooperation has a vast prospect and ASEM has a bright future.China, like all the other ASEM members, is fully confident of this future and will continue making unremitting efforts in boosting Asian-European cooperation.

Economic globalization is a "double-edge sword": On the one hand, it has helped the prosperity of world economy; on the other, it has brought about multiple adverse effects and presented challenges to the international community in various fields. The problem of migratory flows is one of them. The economic and social development level varies from partner to partner in ASEM, but no one among them should keep aloof from the matter. Migratory flows have become a real problem besetting all the Asian and European countries and demand an effective solution through joint studies as well as Asian-European dialogue and cooperation. This is just the reason whySpain,GermanyandChinajointly initiated this ministerial conference.In February this year,Chinahosted an experts' preparatory meeting inBeijingfor this ministerial conference. Thanks to the joint efforts of the partners, the experts' preparatory meeting reached consensus on the draft declaration of the ministerial conference. I believe that so long as all the ASEM partners continue adhering to the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit and responsibility-sharing, this ministerial conference will certainly make positive progress in this brand new field of migratory flow management, further enhance the effective cooperation in this area between Asian-European partners so as to promote the common development and prosperity of the various Asian-European countries and consolidate and deepen the existing equal partnership between Asia and Europe.

Finally, I wish this conference a complete success.

Thank you very much.

2.Analysis of Migratory Flows

First, I wish to express my deep appreciation for the considerate arrangements and enthusiastic hospitality ofSpain, the host country. It is my belief that under Your Excellency's outstanding leadership and with the concerted cooperation of the delegations of the various countries, this conference will be crowned with a complete success and become a new milestone in enhancing Asian-European cooperation.

Along with the rapid and vigorous development of globalization, the exchanges and cooperation in the political, economic, cultural and other areas among the countries of the world have incessantly increased in depth and personnel exchanges have been on the rise. At the same time, there has not been a fundamental change in the unfair and irrational international political and economic order and the gap in wealth between the north and the south has kept widening. Against this backdrop, the global migratory flows, including those inAsiaandEurope, are undergoing complicated and deep changes. First, the number of migrants is sharply rising. In 2000, the total number of migrants in the world was double that of 1965, hitting about 150 million and averaging one migrant per 50 people. Second, migratory flows have involved more and more countries with almost no country left out. Third, migratory flows are confronted with increased challenges. In particular, the problem of illegal migration which is the result of transnational crimes such as stowing away and smuggling in persons on a global scale has become more and more salient and brought about adverse impact on social stability, economic development and relations among the countries.

It is a requirement of the development of the times to draw on advantages and avoid disadvantages in migratory flows, realize orderly migratory flows and address the various problems in migratory flows, which is also an arduous task in front of us. The Chinese delegation believes that we may proceed from the following aspects:

(1) Face squarely the role of the migrants and facilitate orderly flows. The history of the development of mankind has proved that migratory flows are an important driving force for various countries' economic development, social progress and cultural integration. Under the current situation, normal migratory flows are conducive to deepening cooperation among the countries and boosting the optimum distribution of human, technological and other resources. The Asian-European countries should make more efforts in enhancing normal migratory flows and facilitating legal migratory flows between countries.

(2) Promote common development and seek expedient and fundamental solutions. Migratory flows and the issue of development are closely linked. The imbalance in development between the countries and regions is the root cause of illegal migratory flows. Meanwhile, illegal migratory flows exert an adverse impact on the development of both countries of origin and destination. The international community, particularly the developed countries, should take practical actions in the areas of debt, funding, trade and aid to help the developing countries overcome economic difficulties, push forward economic and social development, narrow rather than widen the gap between the north and the south, so as to solve the migratory problem at its roots and realize a virtuous interaction between migration and development.

(3) Jointly share responsibility and develop international cooperation. Migratory flows cross state boundaries. While the solution of the problem depends on the efforts of the relevant countries, it cannot be detached from extensive regional and global cooperation. The countries of origin, destination and transit should adhere to the principle of responsibility-sharing, establish a cooperative partnership of really mutual accommodation and mutual trust and jointly shoulder the responsibility. The role of the international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Organization of Migration should be given full play.

(4) Mutually respect sovereignty and achieve equality and mutual benefit. Migratory management involves a country's legal system so the work in this area should not hurt the principle of state sovereignty. In cooperation, consultations on the basis of equality should be encouraged whereas imposition of one's will on others opposed. Taking advantage of each other's strength should be encouraged whereas mutual exclusion opposed.

(5) Persevere in non-politicizing and avoid double standard. In tackling the migration problem, the international community should accord equal treatment to the migrants from different regions. On the issue of migration, there should be no double standard. Particularly, in addressing the problem of illegal migration the principle of fairness must be observed.

Strengthening Asian-European cooperation in the management of migratory flows is in the interest of the various countries, is conducive to consolidating and deepening the equal partnership which exists betweenAsiaandEuropeand to the solution of the problem of global illegal migration. Although the ASEM partners have different economic and social development levels and they are affected by migratory flows to divergent degrees, they are firmly determined to develop cooperation and their common understanding is increasing. It is my belief that, through joint efforts of all the partners, we will surely make continued progress in this brand new area in the Asian-European cooperation.

3.Leal Migration

Normal migratory flows have pushed forward economic, social development and cultural exchanges of the ASEM partners. Facing the rapid and vigorous development of globalization, it is not only possible but also necessary for the ASEM members to develop cooperation in normal migratory flows. The population composition of the ASEM partners constitutes the important basis for this cooperation. At present, the problem of aging exists inEuropeand some Asian countries. To keep up an economic and social sustainable development, they need migrants as a supplement. According to the statistics of the United Nations, by 2050, the European Union needs to accept at least 44 million laborers to satisfy the requirements of economic development. At the same time, most Asian ASEM partners boast rich human resources and their surplus labor force demands job opportunities. A further development of Asian-European migratory flows is in the common interest of all the partners and it is well worth doing.

In some aspects, the management of migratory flows of the ASEM partners has left much to be desired, which has hindered the normal migratory flows betweenAsiaandEurope. First, there exists the phenomenon of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater", which is mainly mirrored in the fact that to combat illegal migration, a policy of shutting up the door or of discrimination is adopted against normal migration. Second, exclusivist and xenophobic sentiments have been on the rise and migrants often become scapegoats for unemployment, crime, drugs and terrorism. Third, there is a lack of coordination in the policies on migration between the ASEM partners, which can hardly adapt to the current situation of rapidly increasing migratory flows.

In order to further tap the potential of Asian-European migratory flows, promote orderly migratory flows and achieve a win-win result and mutual benefit for all the partners, I would like to put forward the following suggestions:

(1) Correctly appraise the contributions of the legal migrants. No doubt, the remittances of legal migrants have boosted the economic development of the countries of origin. The countries of origin, however, have not been the only beneficiaries of normal migratory flows as the migrants have made greater contributions to the development of the countries of destination. InEurope, in both the reconstruction after the two world wars and the current global economic competition, the Asian migrants have made their own contributions.

(2) Vigorously expand normal migratory channels. The recourse to only encircling and blocking up can hardly fundamentally eliminate illegal migration whereas keeping legal migration channels open is an effective way to reduce illegal migration. All the countries should, in compliance with the stipulations of their laws, support the normal business operations, studies, visiting family and relatives and labor force export in their countries and offer convenience in terms of visa and entry. They should also take practical measures to improve the living environment of migrants from abroad. The Chinese side is considering the holding, at an appropriate time, of a symposium on the employment of Asian-European transnational migrants to study the issue of facilitating the flow of Asian-European migratory workers.

(3) Resolutely combat activities of racial discrimination and exclusivism. Activities of racial discrimination and exclusivism seriously infringe upon the basic human rights and damage equality and dignity of mankind and are a malignant tumor which the current society must get rid of. All the countries should abide by the solemn commitments undertaken at the 2001 United Nations World Conference against Racial Discrimination and, in compliance with the Declaration and the Program of Action adopted by the conference, take practical measures to protect the migrants' legitimate rights.

(4) Educate citizens emigrating overseas on actively integrating into the local society. The governments of all the countries are duty bound to educate their nationals emigrating overseas on abiding by the laws and regulations of the resident countries, respecting local customs, learning the local languages and actively integrating into the local society.

(5) Avoid possible adverse impact on legal migratory flows because of combating terrorism. Terrorism is the common enemy of the international community. The September 11 incident has proved that terrorism has done tremendous damages to the economic and social development of the international community and impacted negatively on legal migratory flows. On the one hand, we should combat terrorism and, on the other, we should try to avoid presenting new difficulties for legal migratory flows because of this.

The Chinese government has all along taken a supportive attitude toward normal migratory flows. On the one hand, we request Chinese citizens who settle down in other countries to observe the laws and regulations of their resident countries, respect local social customs, get along in a friendly manner and co-exist on a long-term basis with the local population. They may voluntarily accept the nationality of the resident country and make contributions to the economic prosperity of the resident country and friendly and cooperative relations betweenChinaand the resident country. On the other hand, we are striving to adjust our policies and offer aliens convenience in entry into and exit fromChinaand residence in it. In recent years, we have set up a "green card" regime for foreign senior talents and investors inChina. We have taken a series of measures for convenience regarding visas such as increasing the number of ports for visa issuance and enhancing the visa functions of the relevant ports. At present, these measures have produced initial results. In the last 12 years, the total number of the legal entries into and exits fromChinahas reached 1.334 billion people/times, averaging an annual growth of 27.91%. WithChina's accession to the WTO,Chinawill take further measures to offer aliens convenience in their entry into the country.

4.Illegal Migration

Currently, in the Asian-European region, the problems of stowing away operations, trafficking in persons and illegal migration run rampant. It is estimated that illegal migrants in the ASEM Asian members number 2.7 million while those in the ASEM European members number 3 million. In recent years,Chinais also faced with grim challenges of the illegal migration problem. On the one hand, owing to varied reasons, stow away incidents involving some individual Chinese citizens take place from time to time. On the other, illegal migrants from other countries, takingChinaeither as the country of transit or destination, enter the country. According to incomplete statistics, by the end of 2000, Chinese police had discovered a total of 85,000 cases of illegal entry, residence and employment by aliens. The illegal migration problem damages the international reputation of the countries of origin, exerts an adverse impact on normal economic and trade activities between countries, disrupts social security and order of the countries of destination and transit and frequently threatens the security and lives of the illegal migrants themselves.

The appearance and development of the illegal migration issue involves numerous complex factors and the issue has deep-rooted economic and social reasons. One, the imbalance in development between regions and countries is the root source for breeding the illegal migration problem. Under the impact of economic globalization, the gap between the north and the south is widening. Many developing countries lack funding for development, find themselves deeply in debt and the living standard of their population keep going downward. Forty years ago, there were only more than 20 least developed countries in the world whereas nowadays the number has reached 48. Forty years ago, the ratio of the average per capita income between the richest and poorest population was 30:1 whereas it has now jumped to 74:1. Two, stowing away and trafficking in persons activities organized by transnational criminal groups are becoming more and more rampant. For high profits, these criminal organizations make reckless moves, take advantage of the loopholes in law and technicality and, through cheating, inducing and coercion, organize illegal migration activities. Three, quite a bit of difference exists in the migration policies of the various countries including ASEM members and certain political factors and selectivity have been mixed in these differences. Among illegal migrants, some are repatriated whereas others are granted asylum under varied pretexts, which objectively encourages illegal migration. Four, one of the important reasons remains that there has been inadequate publicizing of policies and measures of various countries on combating illegal migration. Some illegal migrants do not know much about the situation in foreign countries and harbor illusions about life there. They even know less about the relevant policies of their own country and that of destination so they are willing to run the risks in order to live a better life.

Preventing and combating illegal migration is an issue demanding a prompt solution for the international community and the ASEM members. The Chinese government believes that to effectively address the problem of illegal migration, it is essential for us to make efforts in the following aspects. First, it is necessary to further enhance cooperation between the ASEM members in the economic, trade and technological areas. Efforts should be made to realize the concrete goals set in the ASEM Trade Facilitation Action Plan and the ASEM Investment Promotion Action Plan, narrow the gap between the rich and poor ASEM members, strive for common development and prosperity and eliminate the root cause of illegal migration. Second, it is important to develop cooperation among the ASEM members in combating illegal migration. The countries of origin, transit and destination of illegal migrants should share responsibilities, set up a scheduled and institutionalized coordination mechanism, exchange information in a timely manner and coordinate and focus on the organizers of illegal migratory activities. Third, the developed members of ASEM should offer assistance in technology and funding to the developing members. The developed members have advantages in the technological field such as credentials making and prevention of falsification. And aid to the developing countries will enhance these members' capabilities of preventing and combating illegal migratory activities, which is beneficial to both sides. Fourth, in cooperation, the sovereignty, laws and approach of each country should be respected and the principles of non-politicizing and non-selectivity observed. In its cooperation with other countries,Chinahas consistently adhered to the principle of "verification first, repatriation second" and "repatriating all the illegal migrants on board the ship (plane)", which is effective in practice and accepted by the countries concerned. Fifth, publicizing of the policy on combating illegal migration should be stepped up. All the countries should publicize their and other countries' policies and practice through the media, in particular, information concerning preventing and combating illegal migration so as to enhance the legal awareness of the citizens. Sixth, the illegal migrants should be well treated. They are both law breakers and victims. Their law-breaking behavior should be addressed in accordance with the law, but the illegal migrants in distress should be given humanitarian treatment and relief they need.

The Chinese government has all along been opposed to illegal migration and sternly combated the related transnational crimes. It has made unremitting efforts and achieved tangible results. First, eradicating poverty vigorously. In the past 20 years, the Chinese government has successfully solved the problem of food and clothing for 220 million poor rural people, reducing the rural poor population from 250 million in 1978 to the present 30 million. Continuing its efforts, this year the Chinese government has focused on increasing the income of the farmers and improving the living standard of the vulnerable masses. Second, improving legislation. In China, a legal system, with the Criminal Law as the mainstay and administrative regulations, rules of relevant agencies as coordinating measures, has been shaped up for combating illegal migration activities. Third, stepping up law enforcement. In recent years,China's relevant departments have enhanced the examination of entry and exit applications in accordance with the law, improved the formalities for entry and exit credentials examination, approval and checking. Meanwhile, they have strengthened patrols and intercepting operations on the seas as well as investigating and breaking of stowaway cases. They have focused their cracking down on the criminal groups that organize stowaway operations and, in strict compliance with the law, investigated and pursued the criminal responsibilities of the "snakeheads" that organized stowaway activities. Fourth, raising technical level. The Chinese police has applied international advanced technologies and constantly raised the level of anti-falsification of credentials. Computer networking has been realized for passport information in the departments of entry/exit management and checking departments of the ports equal and above the prefecture (city) level. And advanced facilities able to find out falsified and sham credentials have been installed at the ports. Fifth, stepping up publicity and education. The Chinese government has stepped up its publicity to its citizens on its relevant laws through the news media and other effective means and publicize the information about other countries' preventing and combating illegal migration. Our government has also exposed the crimes and deception of the criminals, given accounts about the miserable situation of illegal migrants abroad so that the citizens will conscientiously abide by the law and not be cheated by the "snakeheads". Sixth, setting store by international cooperation.Chinahas developed cooperation in this field with more than 40 countries including those of the European Union.Chinaand the EU have already held many rounds of consultations at different levels on fighting against illegal migration and started cooperation projects in the areas of information exchange, anti-falsification of credentials and publicity and education. In regard to verified and confirmedChinese illegal migrants who crossed the border from the mainland ofChina, the Chinese government, in close coordination with related countries, has agreed to their repatriation. Last year, the Chinese government accepted the repatriation of about 15,000 people from overseas (including fromChina'sHong Kong,MacaoandTaiwan). Moreover,Chinahas taken an active part in the drafting and signing of the United Nation Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and joined the "Manila Process" and the related activities of the International Organization of Migration.