Algerian Prime Minister Ali Benflis stressed on Monday his country hopes to advance ties with China in the years ahead.
Benflis made the remark during talks with his Chinese counterpart Zhu Rongji, who arrived in Algiers Sunday afternoon for a three-day official visit to Algeria.
Benflis said Sino-Algerian friendship enjoys a solid foundation, and the two countries have long understood and supported each other as well as worked together to safeguard world peace and the interests of developing countries.
In addition, Algeria and China have had fruitful cooperation in the international arena, he said, praising Sino-Algerian relationship as a model for relations between nations.
He also underlined the importance of promoting economic and trade cooperation between the two countries in the 21st century.
Following the talks, the two countries signed four documents on bilateral cooperation in economic, technological, cultural and medical areas.
Later in the day, Zhu also met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on bilateral ties and matters of mutual interest.
Algeria is the first leg of Zhu's four-nation visit to Africa, which will also take him to Morocco, Cameroon and South Africa.
In South Africa, Zhu will attend the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development on Sept. 2-4.