China, Czech desire to further expand cooperation

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday China has its confidence in the prospect of Sino-Czech relations.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R), shakes hands with visiting Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 28, 2005.

Wen made the remark when meeting with visiting Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Tuesday afternoon.

Wen expressed the belief that as long as the two countries proceed from a long-term point of view and join efforts to develop bilateral relations, they will surely achieve greater and quicker progress in this regard.

He also expressed the wish that the two countries should maintain the current momentum of high-level visits, encourage their own companies to have direct contact and expand mutually beneficial cooperation in such fields as trade, investment and environmental protection. The two countries should strengthen exchanges in culture and other areas so as to deepen mutual understanding and friendship, he said.

Paroubek said Czech is ready to strengthen high-level communications with China and continue to expand cooperation with China in areas of trade, economy, investment, power industry and automobile manufacturing. He said Czech also wishes to enhance bilateral exchanges on culture and sports.

Wen appreciated the Czech government for its adherence to the one-China policy and its opposition to "Taiwan independence".

Paroubek said the Czech government holds a clear-cut stance on the Taiwan issue. It has always regarded the Taiwan issue as an internal affair of China.

Wen said Sino-Czech relations have maintained a sound momentum over the past few years. Czech President Vaclav Klaus' visit to China last year and the current visit of Prime Minister Paroubek have shown that the Czech Republic places importance on developing relations with China. The visits have deepened political trust between the two countries.

Wen said at present, trade and economic cooperation between the two countries are growing steadily, while exchanges in the fields of culture, education, science and technology continually expand.

The cooperation and exchanges have helped promote economic and social development of the two countries and further consolidate the foundation of bilateral relations, Wen said.

Paroubek agreed with Wen's comment on bilateral relations. He said further developing political relations and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries are in the interests of the two peoples. He said his current visit to China is aimed at expanding bilateral links and cooperation.

Paroubek arrived in Beijing Saturday for a working visit to China as guest of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. During the visit, he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo. He will return home by air Tuesday evening.

Source: Xinhua