Speaking at George Bush Presidential Library in Texas, Jiang said both China and the United States are victims of terrorism and the Chinese and Americans have stood together and carried out effective cooperation in the war against terror.

China will continue to step up consultation and cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism and join the rest of the world in the concerted fight against this common scourge, Jiang said.

The president said that preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, South Asia and the Middle East and protecting the global environment are the major issues of concern to the people the world over.

China and the United States ought to step up consultation and cooperation in these fields, for this serves the common interests of the two countries, and China stands ready to keep in touch with the United States, cooperate more closely with each other in search for a fair and reasonable solution to these problems and promote peace and stability in the world, Jiang said.

The president said China is the largest developing country while the United States is the largest developed country, and the two economies are highly complementary and the two cultures have distinctive features.

Noting that there exist vast potential and broad prospects for bilateral cooperation in the economic, trade, energy, environment,science and technology, education and other fields, Jiang said a constructive and cooperative relationship between China and the United States is in the fundamental interests of the Chinese and Americans and meets their common aspirations, and the development of such a relationship is bound to make the two peoples both winners.

"Let us keep up our good work, increase our understanding, expand our consensus and enhance our cooperation so as to build an even better future for China-US relations," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2002)