China's socialist democracy and construction of its legal system has resulted in China's high- speed economic growth over the past decades, said Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji on November 4.

Zhu made these remarks in response to a German journalist's question when he and visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder briefly met the press after they held talks this afternoon.

Zhu said that "we have considered that politics and the economy cannot be separated while economic growth is the overall basis of development."

"Economic development is inseparably linked with democracy and the legal system," he added. Since new China was founded 50 years ago, "socialist democracy and legal system have witnessed great progress unprecedented in Chinese history."

China and Germany hold different views on the concept of democracy, Zhu said, but we can still exchange and communicate ideas about democracy. We have already built channels for such exchanges with Germany, and China is willing to continue such exchanges.

In response to a Chinese reporter's question on the one China policy adopted by the new German government, Schroeder answered that the new German government will unequivocally continue to adopt the one China policy and Germany will not participate in any activity that may pose a potential threat to China.