Chinese, Portuguese Officials Vow to Quicken Talk 　　According to authorized sources from Macau on January18, both sides of the Sino-Portuguese Joint Liaison Group (JLG) declared that they would gear up their consultation in the last year on Macao's hand-over. 　　Han Zhaokang and Antonio Santana Carlos, chief representatives of the Chinese and Portuguese sides of the JLG, expressed consensus in a recess of the 34th session of the JLG, which opened this morning. 　　While reviewing the overall work of the group, the two officials agreed that they should strengthen consultations inside the JLG for sincere and pragmatic cooperation, Han said. 　　"For the Chinese side, some issues concerning the transfer of power and Macao's smooth transition lie on the negotiation table," Han said. 　　"The Chinese side is ready to exert utmost efforts to strengthen cooperation with the Portuguese side and hold consultations with flexible and pragmatic attitude," he noted. 　　Antonio Santana Carlos also said that he had reached a consensus with his Chinese counterpart that they should speed up their work to ensure that associated problems can be addressed well before the transfer of power. 　　He noted that it is of significance for the two sides to reach a certain kind of understanding, for each side has some topics of priority. 　　The session is the first of its kind this year. HomeNews 1999-01-20 Page4 Full Story in Chinese