Moroccan King Mohammed VI held a lavish state banquet at the royal palace to welcome visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

When Jiang arrived at the palace, he was greeted at the entrance by the King and his brother Prince Moulay Rachid.

The King said in his toast that China, which has long history and nurtured splendid culture, has made remarkable contribution to the civilization of mankind. Chinese culture and Arabic and Islamic culture have kept continuous and positive exchange generation after generation.

Peoples of Morocco and China respect and admire each other and this feeling has been deepened along with time, said the King. Every Moroccan holds the feeling of gratitude toward Chinese people for the support they provided when Moroccans fought for independence and freedom.

Jiang made high comment in his toast on Morocco for its contributions in strengthening South-South cooperation, establishing just and reasonable new international economic order, promoting the proper settlement of the issue of the Middle East and safeguarding the world and regional peace and stability.

Jiang said that when mankind is walking into the new century, peace and development are still the theme of our times. To realize lasting peace and prosperity requires the common efforts of people of all countries.

"Chinese government has always advocated that new international political and economic order should be built on the basis of the five principles of peaceful co-existence and other international norms which have been widely accepted by the international community," Jiang said.

International relationship should be democratic, Jiang said. All countries have the right to participate in international affairs no matter they are big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, he added.

Countries should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other, with non-aggression and non-interference, Jiang said. The right of the people of every country in choosing the social system and road of development according to their national reality should be fully respected, he added.

"No country has the right to interfere in other's domestic affairs under any excuse," Jiang stressed, adding that dialogue and negotiation should be adopted to seek peaceful settlement for international conflicts.

Jiang, accompanied by the King, inspected the royal guards of honor after the banquet, and national anthems of the two countries were played. Jiang and the King said farewell to each other afterward.