Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday in Jerusalem expressed his hope to strengthen friendly relations and cooperation with China.

During a meeting with Liu Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, Olmert expressed his appreciation of development of friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Israel hopes to strengthen friendly cooperation with China in various fields, he said.

For his part, Liu said that China has attached importance to developing friendly relations with Israel and would continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Israel in all fields.

Earlier in the day, Liu, at the head of a CPC delegation, also met with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

Liu kicked off his visit to Israel on Tuesday at the invitation of the Israeli government.

Source: Xinhua