Weizman Holds Ceremony to Welcome Chinese President

Weizman Welcomes Jiang

Israeli President Ezer Weizman held a ceremony here Wednesday to welcome Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who is paying a state visit to Israel.

In his welcome speech, Weizman hailed Jiang's visit as a historic one, noting that this is the first time that a Chinese president pays a visit to Israel.

This visit will surely "lay a foundation for the deepening of relations between Israel and China," Weizman said. Israel attaches great importance to its relations with China and is seeking to widen cooperation with it in many fields, especially in economy, agriculture, science, medicine and culture, Weizman said.

Jiang's visit also comes at a time when Israel is making efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace with its Arab neighbors, Weizman said, adding that he hoped Jiang's visit will help move forward the Middle East peace process.

Weizman Holds Ceremony to Welcome Chinese President

For his part, the Chinese president expressed his heartful thanks to Weizman's warm welcome and friendly remarks, saying it is a great pleasure for him to pay a state visit to this beautiful country.

"Both the Chinese nation and the Jewish nation are among the oldest nations in the world that have made great contributions to the human civilization and progress," Jiang said.



The important subject of his visit is to explore ways to further strengthen the traditional friendship between the two nations and to promote cooperation for the benefits of both, Jiang said. He said the Chinese government sincerely hopes that the Middle East peace process will continue to move forward. "I hope my visit will be helpful to the advancement of the undertaking of Mideast peace," he added.



The national anthems of China and Israel were played at the beginning of the ceremony. Jiang was accompanied by Weizman to inspect the Israeli honor guard.



Jiang arrived in Israel earlier Wednesday on the first leg of his five-nation state visit, which will also take him to Palestine, Turkey, Greece and South Africa.