Top political advisor Jia Qinglin met with Dianne Feinstein, member of the US senate, and governor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom in Beijing on Monday.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and Feinstein hailed Sino-US relations and discussed other issues of common concern during an 80-minute meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Jia briefed the guests on US President George W. Bush's visit to China earlier this month, saying President Hu Jintao and Bush reached "broad and important" consensus during their talks in Beijing.

"The Sino-US relations are facing an opportunity for further development," Jia said.

The development of Sino-US relations has proved that so long as the two countries handle bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term point of view, enhance exchanges, mutual-trust and cooperation on the basis of the three Sino-US joint communiqués and properly handle sensitive issues, the bilateral ties would be further improved and benefit people of the two countries and the world as well, he said.

Feinstein, also former mayor of San Francisco in the 1980s', said that US-China relations are important for the two countries.

The friendship established between US and Chinese cities, such as San Francisco and Chinese economic hub of Shanghai, promotes exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, she said, noting she will contribute more to develop such friendship in a bid to push forward US-China relations.

San Francisco and Shanghai forged sistership in 1980, one-year after China and the US established diplomatic relations. There have been 156 pairs of such sister cities in China and the US.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2005)