Luo made the remark in Beijing Monday at a meeting with Patrick Chinamasa, Zimbabwean minister of justice, legal and parliamentary affairs.

Luo said the friendship and cooperation between China and Zimbabwe went back a long time and had withstood the test of international volatile changes.

Since the two countries forged diplomatic ties more than 20 years ago, their relationship had progressed smoothly with frequent high-level exchanges and remarkable results in cooperation in politics, economics, culture, education and health work, said Luo. China was well pleased with this, he added.

He said he was convinced that with joint efforts from both sides, bilateral friendship and cooperation based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits would achieve greater heights.

Boosting legal and judicial exchanges followed the common aspirations of the two governments and their peoples, he noted. He believed this visit would not only promote ties between the two ministries but also help further the growth of bilateral relations.

Chinamasa, who is on his first visit to China as guest of the Chinese Ministry of Justice, cited the long history of bilateral friendship and cooperation between both countries and their identical or similar views on many major international and regional issues.

The Zimbabwean government adhered to a one-China policy, he said, and his country would further strengthen bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Luo voiced his appreciation for Zimbabwe's one-China policy.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2003)