Ireland, China Agree to Further Promote Bilateral TiesIreland and China agreed here on Wednesday to make greater efforts to further develop bilateral cooperation in the fields of science and technology, education and culture.The two countries came to the agreement at a meeting between visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing and Irish Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney. In their talks, Harney said the Irish government attached great importance to developing friendly cooperation with China and in the government's Asian Strategy worked out in 1999, China was listed as one of the priority countries with which Ireland was to develop bilateral cooperation with greater efforts. She also said that the Irish government supported China's early entry into the World Trade Organization. The settlement of the issue would further facilitate the healthy development of the Chinese economy, she said. Li Lanqing said that he was satisfied with the advance of the relations between China and Ireland. He noted that Ireland had sustained a high rate of growth in its economic development in recent years, an achievement that has attracted world attention. He also spoke highly of the development of high-tech industries in Ireland, a country now known as the software capital of Europe. The experience of development of Ireland was worth of studying for China, and the Chinese government was willing to join hands with the Irish government to make common efforts to further promote exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in the fields of science and technology, education and culture, the Chinese vice premier said. Li arrived here Tuesday on a four-day official visit, the last leg of his four-nation tour, which has already taken him to Cuba, where he attended the first South Summit, Malta, and the Netherlands. |
| Please visit People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |