Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Monday conveyed an oral message of Chinese President Jiang Zemin to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami.

In the message, Jiang extended his cordial greeting and renewed his invitation to Khatami to visit China on a suitable time.

Jiang said the Chinese government attaches great importance to expansion of relations with Iran and is ready to join hands with Iran to further expand mutual cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields in order to serve the two nations.

He expressed hope that the two countries will make further efforts to promote their cooperation in international affairs and push forward the establishment of new international political and economic order.

In reply, Khatami asked Tang to convey his cordial greeting to Jiang and thanked him for his message and invitation. He said he expects to visit China in the near future and hopes his visit will serve the interests of the two governments and nations.

Expressing pleasure over China's great economic achievements in recent years, he said the Chinese developments will be a good experience for other countries in the world.

Terming Iran and China as two Asian countries with ancient civilizations, Khatami said Iran's initiative on dialog among civilizations is aimed at improving contacts and exchanges among various cultures in the world.

He expressed the belief that Tang's visit to Iran will be a new step for further promotion of Tehran-Beijing ties, calling on the two countries to further expand their friendly relations and cooperation and contribute to stability and economic developments in the world.

Khatami also briefed Tang of the recent Iranian parliamentary election, saying the election, which enjoyed strong support of the Iranian nation, indicated that the social life in Iran is very active.

Tang said the Chinese government also attaches great importance to Iran's role in regional and international affairs and support the initiative of dialog among civilizations advocated by President Khatami.

The idea of dialog among civilizations can help reduce regional tensions and is in the line with the Chinese foreign policy and in the interest of developing countries, he said.

The Chinese foreign minister said China and Iran, as two developing countries in Asia facing common issues and challenges, can enhance their cooperation in maintaining peace and accelerating developments.

Tang arrived here on Sunday for a four-day official visit, the last leg of his four-nation tour, which has already brought him to Mauritania, Tunisia and Kuwait.

During his stay in Tehran, Tang also exchanged views on bilateral ties with Iranian Majlis (parliament) speaker Nateq Nouri, Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohammad Hahsemi, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

By the end of their second round of talks, Tang and his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi also signed a memorandum of understanding on the mechanism of political consultation between the two foreign ministries.