On November 30, 2004, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro in Vientiane, capital of Laos, respectively. A day earlier, Wen Jiabao also met separately with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah of Brunei, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines and Prime Minister Soe Win of Myanmar.

On November 29 when he met with Sultan Hassanal of Brunei, Wen made four proposals regarding China-Brunei cooperation. First, the two sides should constantly expand bilateral trade so as to surpass the threshold of 1 billion USD trade volume as early as possible. Second, the two sides should deepen energy cooperation. China supports its companies to participate in the exploration and development of oil and gas resources of Brunei. Third, the two sides should expand cooperation in infrastructure construction. China will continue encouraging Chinese enterprises to participate in the construction of communications facilities, roads, bridges and ports. Fourth, the two sides should enhance security cooperation to jointly safeguard peace and stability in this region.

Hassanal agreed to the proposals put forward by Wen. He suggested that Brunei and China boast broad prospects for cooperation in the fields of oil and gas and Brunei is ready to conduct serious discussions on cooperation in these fields as well as in the field of infrastructure construction. He held that cooperation in those areas would undoubtedly strengthen the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. (source: website, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)