CHINA: Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny meets Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing as part of a three-day trip aimed at boosting economic ties with the world's second largest economy

Record ID: 872950

  • Title: CHINA: Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny meets Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing as part of a three-day trip aimed at boosting economic ties with the world's second largest economy
  • Date: 28th March 2012
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (MARCH 27, 2012) (REUTERS) CHINESE PREMIER WEN JIABAO AND IRISH PRIME MINISTER ENDA KENNY WALKING ONTO PODIUM WEN AND KENNY STANDING VARIOUS OF GUARDS STANDING AND WEN AND KENNY ON PODIUM, AUDIO OF IRISH NATIONAL ANTHEM CEREMONY IN PROGRESS, BAND PLAYING IRISH NATIONAL ANTHEM GUARDS RAISING BAYONETS WEN AND KENNY WALKING OFF PODIUM VARIOUS OF WEN AND KENNY WALKING PAST GUARD MEETING IN PROGRESS, DELEGATIONS SEATED AROUND TABLE WEN SPEAKING KENNY LISTENING WEN AND CHINESE DELEGATES SEATED IRISH DELEGATES SEATED KENNY SPEAKING MORE OF MEETING IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China, China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAM00HBIZ2OJZ7HZQZ18ISW6IF
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday (March 27) met with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who is on a three-day visit to China aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investment with the world's second largest economy.
    Wen received Kenny in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, before the two men sat down for talks.
    The Taoiseach said it was his priority to deepen connections between Ireland and China, which is at the heart of his country's Asia strategy.
    Sino-Irish trade hit 5.87 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, up 8.6 percent year-on-year, making China Ireland's largest trade partner in Asia, Chinese Customs said.
    Ireland has been working to seek investment from China, which it also sees as a huge potential market for Irish goods, to help the eurozone member out of financial turmoil.
    Ireland was forced to seek an 85 billion euro (112 billion U.S. dollar) rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in November 2010, after debt and deficit problems left the economy on the verge of collapse.
    As well as enhancing economic cooperation, the Prime Minister said he also sought to increase cultural exchange and boost the number of Chinese tourists to Ireland.
    On Wednesday (March 28), Kenny is due to meet Chinese Vice President and the leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping, who visited Ireland in late February.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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