NANNING, China -- A huge sign strung across the entrance to a trade exhibition center in the southwest Chinese city of Nanning blandly says "10+1=11." But behind this uninspiring piece of sloganeering, and in and around this provincial capital, more exciting things have been happening. The Philippines' President Gloria Arroyo went for a cruise on the Li River, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong popped up to Sichuan and received a bottled gourd for happiness and prosperity, and deals worth $600 million were signed between Chinese companies and several Southeast Asian countries. There have also been some amusing asides in Nanning: Thailand's military-appointed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont sought to reassure Chinese leaders that democracy would soon return to his country; the Prime Minister of penniless Myanmar, General Soe Win, claimed his country would build a textile factory in the central Chinese province of Jiangxi; and China's Premier Wen Jiabao commended the visitors to go out and enjoy the "beautiful autumn season of October with clear skies and blooming flowers."
China, Southeast Asia Look to Strengthen Economic Ties
