Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji met with dignitaries from more than 50 foreign countries and regions and representatives from about 30 international and regional organizations who had just attended the Macao handover ceremony.

President Jiang and Premier Zhu met with Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, Vice President of Brazil Marco Maciel, Vice President of Columbia Gustavo Bell, President of the Senate of Spain Esteranza Aguirre, Vice President of the Federal Council of Austria Anna Haselbach, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Manh Cam, and foreign ministers from more than 20 other foreign countries.

Also present at the meeting were former German President Roman Herzog, former Djiboutian President Hassan Gouled Aptidon, former New Zealand Governor-General Paul Reeves, Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Saudi Arabian Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdul-Aziz, and former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.

International and regional organizations represented at the ceremony included the United Nations (U.N.), organizations of the United Nations, the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Organization of African Unity.

Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji shook hands with the foreign guests one after another, who extended warm congratulations to the Chinese leaders on Macao's smooth return to China.