Premier Wen Jiabao met in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday with Australian Prime Minister John Winston Howard on promotion of the bilateral ties and regional cooperation.

During the meeting, Wen said the Sino-Australian relations have maintained a momentum of healthy development, with the two sides continuously achieving new fruits of bilateral exchanges and cooperation in politics, trade, economy, culture, education, science and technology.

He said that in bidding and preparing for the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2008, the two countries conducted a fruitful cooperation.

Wen said that the two countries have maintained a good consultation and cooperation at the UN, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and other major international and regional organizations, as well as over significant international and regional issues.

China, from a strategic perspective, appreciates and develops the Sino-Australian relations, and regards Australia as an important cooperation partner, Wen noted.

"We hope to continue to keep the momentum of the high-level exchanges on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, to increase political trust each other and to expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields so as to lift the comprehensive and cooperative relations between the two countries to a new high," he said.

For his part, Howard said the Australian side attaches great importance to and has steadfastly dedicated to developing ties with China. There are big differences between the two countries in terms of history, culture and philosophic thoughts, Howard said, but these do not affect reaching consensus, because the two countries have many common interests and goals.

The relationship between Australia and China has developed smoothly, with fruitful results registered in various fields, he said. The two sides exchanged views on their trade and economic cooperation.

Wen expressed his point of view that the two sides should deepen the strategic cooperation in energy and mineral resources, steadily advance the process of the talks on a free trade agreement, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of sustainable development between the two countries.

Echoing Wen's view, Howard said the bilateral cooperation in energy and mineral resources is in conformity with the interests of the two sides, and the two governments share the responsibility for directing enterprises of the two countries to conduct cooperation.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the nuclear issue of the Korean peninsula.

At the First Asia Summit held in Kuala Lumpur earlier Wednesday, Wen delivered a major speech titled "Be Open and Inclusive, and Achieve Mutual Benefit and Common Progress."

Wen arrived here Sunday to attend the 9th China-ASEAN and ASEAN plus China, Japan and Republic of Korea Summit and the first East Asia Summit in addition to paying an official visit to Malaysia.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2005)