State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan held talks in Zagreb with Croatian
President Stjepan Mesic and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader separately
on Friday with both sides pledging to further boost bilateral
ties.
Tang said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations
between China and Croatia 14 years ago, the two countries have
continuously made positive achievements in exchanges and
cooperation in politics, economy and trade, among other fields.
"Bilateral relationship entered a new phase of development with
the establishment of the comprehensive partnership of cooperation
between the two countries last year," he said.
China appreciates Croatia's active efforts to develop
Sino-Croatian relations and its adherence to the one-China policy,
said Tang.
China is willing to work together with Croatia to push forward
cooperation in various fields including economy and trade,
education, culture, agriculture, public health and tourism, he
noted.
Mesic told Tang that the Croatian-Chinese relations have
developed smoothly and both countries still have great potential to
enhance cooperation in economy and trade.
"Croatia is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with China
to deepen mutual understanding, and broaden the friendly exchanges
and mutually beneficial cooperation," he said, adding that his
country would abide by the one-China policy.
During the meeting with Tang, Prime Minister Sanader said
Croatia appreciates China's active role in international affairs
and is grateful for China's "precious support" over the years.
Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has been fruitful and
China's rapid development has provided more opportunities for both
sides to expand such cooperation, said Sanader.
Speaking at a press conference after meeting with Croatian Vice
Prime Minister Damir Polancec, Tang said the situation in the
western Balkan region continues to ease up and that countries in
the region have reached a consensus on the need to seek peace,
stability and development, and set economic development as their
core task.
The changes in the regional situation are the results of joint
efforts by all countries in the region and conform to the
development trend of the international situation and the common
interests of all peoples in the region, said the senior Chinese
official.
He stressed that China and countries in the region are facing
new opportunities and broad prospects for developing bilateral
relations.
"We hope both sides will stand at a new height and a new
starting point to widen our thinking for improving cooperation,
explore new fields of cooperation, enrich the contents of
cooperation and seek common development," he noted.
China appreciates and supports efforts by countries in the
region to pursue the policy of maintaining good-neighborly
relations, safeguarding regional stability, and promoting common
development, Tang said.
China maintains that questions left over by history in the
region should be resolved on the basis of respecting sovereignty
and territorial integrity of all nations in the region,
guaranteeing the equal rights of all nations and peoples, seriously
implementing relevant UN resolutions, and conducting dialogues,
Tang said.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China is ready
to continuously make positive contributions to the realization of
lasting peace and stability in the region, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2006)
