Chinese Premier Meets UNESCO Director-General

Zhu Rongji Meets UNESCO Director-General

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji met Wednesday with Matsuura Koichiro, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Zhu said that he hopes that through the visit, Koichiro will have a deeper understanding of China in order to further promote cooperation between UNESCO and China.

Calling UNESCO an important special organization in the United Nations, Zhu said that UNESCO has played a positive role in promoting life-long education and primary education, and protecting global natural resources and cultural heritage. The Chinese government appreciates and supports this endeavor.

He said he believes that under the leadership of Koichiro, China and UNESCO will have wide-ranging cooperation in the years ahead.

Koichiro, who is on the first China visit since assuming the post in October last year, said that China is an important member of UNESCO, and has had close cooperation with it in the past, adding that during the visit, he and officials from relevant Chinese departments had good discussions on bilateral cooperation in cultural, scientific, technological and educational areas.

He said he believes that bilateral cooperation will develop further in the future.