Jiang made the remarks at a dinner given in his honor by Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown, which was attended by more than 800 guests from the state of Texas and the city of Houston.

Jiang recalled that 30 years ago, the leaders of the two nations, with great foresight and breadth of vision, broke the ice after bilateral ties were frozen for 23 years.

The development of friendly cooperation between China and the United States will not only bring enormous benefits to the two peoples but will also greatly promote peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole, he said.

Jiang said he is convinced that his meeting with US President George W. Bush in his Crawford ranch on Friday would achieve positive results and give fresh impetus to the development of the China-US ties.

Speaking at the dinner, former US President George Bush said Houston is China's important trading partner as well as a friend of the Chinese people.

With regard to trade and world peace, he believed that the US- China relations represent one of the most significant state-to- state ties.

It is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples that both sides continuously consolidate and strengthen bilateral comprehensive cooperation, Bush said.

During a meeting with Houston Mayor Brown earlier, Jiang said the Chinese government has always valued its friendly ties with Houston and supported various regions and departments in China in their efforts to undertake exchanges and cooperation with the city.

Jiang said he believed that, through concerted efforts, the two sides will make greater progress in exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

Brown said that during his two visits to China, he had signed a total of 72 cooperation agreements with the Chinese side on energy resources, ports, airports, medicine, education and high-tech, which help tighten the Houston-China relations and the US-China ties.

Earlier in the day, Jiang visited the Johnson Space Center in southern Houston.

Also on Wednesday, President Jiang's wife Wang Yeping had a tea party with Barbara Bush in Bush's house in Houston.

(China Daily October 24, 2002)