Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao and visiting Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides of the Republic of Cyprus met Monday in Beijing to review the overall progress of the long-standing friendship between China and Cyprus.
Hu noted that in recent years, the two countries further developed their bilateral cooperation in politics, economy and culture.
Pushing forward the friendly relationship between the two countries in an all-around way is a common desire of the two peoples, Hu said.
As for the Cypriot issue, Hu said that the Chinese government always pays close attention to its development and wishes for a fair and proper settlement on the issue in accordance with the resolutions endorsed by the United Nations.
China, together with the international community, is willing to continue playing an active role in settling the issue, Hu said.
Kasoulides highly valued the great achievements made by the Chinese people in the past decades.
He congratulated China on its entry into the World Trade Organization and said he hoped for further contributions from China for regional and world peace.
He reiterated that Cyprus would stick to "one China" stance and wished China would realize reunification of its mainland and Taiwan as soon as possible.
He said that Cyprus and China always support each other in dealing with international issues.
(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2001)
