Premier Zhu Meets Lee Kuan YewPremier Zhu Rongji, in a meeting with Singaporean Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew Tuesday, said that China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) is necessary for speeding up the country's reform and opening-up drive.It will also be conducive to promoting the global trade as well as China's economic and trade cooperation with other Asian countries, he said. Briefing Lee on the latest development of China's bid to join the WTO, Zhu said that China is fully prepared to accelerate its opening-up drive, and will promote its economic and trade relations with other countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. China faces both challenges and opportunities in this regard, he said, pointing out that it is confident and capable of dealing with challenges and turning challenges to opportunities. Lee, who arrived in Beijing Sunday for a working visit to China, offered his congratulations on the progress China has made in its WTO negotiations, saying that early entry into the WTO will help China's integration with the global economy, and he believes that China will be successful in its economic development. Zhu said that China is satisfied with the remarkable progress in bilateral cooperation in various fields since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries ten years ago, and there exist enormous potential and broad prospects for further cooperation. He attributed such progress to the tremendous efforts made by Lee over the past years, and said that Lee is welcome to visit China more often. Zhu also briefed Lee on China's economic situation. Zhu and Lee exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest. During his stay in Beijing, Lee will attend the 21st Century Forum--Conference 2000 sponsored by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. |
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