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Chinese Premier Meets Iranian President
Premier Zhu Rongji said during a meeting with Iranian President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami Friday that China attaches great importance to its relations with Iran, and is willing to strive for new progress in the new century through joint efforts.
Zhu, in turn, said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and especially since the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sino-Iranian relations have witnessed consistent and steady development under the care of leaders of both countries.
In this new century, when the world situation is experiencing important and profound changes, bilateral relations have assumed new vigor, Zhu said, adding that, as developing countries, China and Iran are faced with many common tasks and challenges, and share the same or similar views on many international and regional issues.
Khatami said the friendship between the peoples of Iran and China enjoy a long history, and there is a sound relationship between the two countries. He described his talks with President Jiang Zemin yesterday as good and his current visit as successful.
The president expressed the hope that his visit will give a boost to the relations between the two countries, noting that the development of relations between them is not only in the fundamental interests of the two countries, but also conducive to Asian stability and development.
Zhu said economic and trade relations between China and Iran have witnessed rapid development in recent years, and both the sphere and scale of cooperation have been expanded.
Iran has become an important trade partner for China in the Gulf region, and there are still broad prospects for their further cooperation, Zhu said.
He expressed the hope that the two countries would jointly seek new ways of cooperation so as to lift their economic and trade relationship to a new level.
Khatami said Iran and China are now both devoted to their national economic construction, and their cooperation in the economic and trade field has great potential. There are also broad prospects for their cooperation in fields such as oil, natural gas and transportation, he said.
Iran warmly welcomes Chinese enterprises to participate in its economic construction, the president said.
Khatami arrived in Beijing yesterday morning for a five-day state visit at the invitation of Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and the two presidents held formal talks yesterday.
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