Jiang made the remarks at a meeting with visiting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia who started a five-day official visit to China on Monday as a guest of Premier Zhu Rongji.

Jiang said bilateral friendship initiated by leaders of the two countries will be furthered in the new century.

He noted that the two countries are close and friendly neighbors and their friendship boasts a profound historical basis.

Bilateral relations have advanced smoothly on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence although the two countries forged diplomatic ties not too long ago, Jiang said.

He voiced his satisfaction with bilateral relations, saying that they are based on friendship with no prominent problems.

On the basis of sound bilateral political relations, Jiang said, the two countries have developed their economic and trade cooperation of mutual benefit in recent years with very good results.

Jiang pointed out that the world situation is undergoing profound changes, and the world is not peaceful with increasing uncertain factors influencing peace and development.

China and Bangladesh stand side by side in the fight against terrorism, said Jiang, stressing that China pays much attention to South Asia as the stability there concerns the stability in Asia as a whole.

China sincerely hopes that countries in South Asia will treat each other on an equal footing and co-exist in harmony, added Jiang.

As two developing countries, China and Bangladesh are facing the common task of developing their economies and improving their people's life, said Jiang.

He mentioned the effective measures taken by Zia for maintaining social stability and promoting economic development, expressing the belief that Bangladesh will realize social stability and economic prosperity.

Zia said bilateral friendship initiated by leaders of the old generation of the two countries has made substantial progress in recent years, and the Bangladeshi Government places much importance on bilateral relations and will continue to abide by the one-China policy.

Noting the agreements signed by the two sides during this visit, she said they will further push forward the development of bilateral relations in the new century.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2002)