Chinese President Hu Jintao met here Friday evening respectively with former Philippine President and Chairman of BFA Board of Directors Fidel V. Ramos, members of BFA Board of Directors, ministers participating to the 2004 annual session of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA).

In separate meetings, Hu also met with Tung Chee-hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the Macao SAR, members of the BFA Board of Directors, foreign ministers and members of the BFA Advisory Council, major speakers to the forum on China's peaceful rise and economic globalization.

While meeting with Ramos, Hu recalled meeting with the former Philippine president three years ago when BFA was still a tentative plan.

The Forum has experienced significant development during the past three years thanks to concerted efforts of related parties, said Hu, vowing to provide necessary support to the Forum as usual on behalf of the Chinese government.

He also highly rated Ramos's contribution to promoting Sino-Philippine friendly ties while Ramos was Philippine President.

On behalf of the BFA Board of Directors, Ramos welcomed Hu to the Forum and thanked Hu for Chinese leaders' consistent support to BFA and said the forum's fast development is inseparable from contribution of various Asian forces, among which China occupied a particularly important position.

The Forum will play more important roles in promoting regional cooperation in Asia, said Ramos.

In his meeting with Tung Chee-hwa and Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Hu urged Hong Kong and Macao business people to further develop their economies by taking full advantage of opportunities attendant to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with China's Mainland (CEPA), which took effect on Jan. 1, 2004.

Hu stressed that the central government will unswervingly implement principles of "One country, two systems", "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong", "Macao people governing Macao", a high degree of autonomy in the two regions in accordance with the basic laws of Hong Kong and Macao.

The central government will give full support to the two chief executives and their governments in legal framework and firmly maintain the prosperity and stability of the two regions.

After the meetings, Hu attended a welcome banquet hosted by the Hainan provincial government.

Source: Xinhua