Hua Jianmin, state councilor and secretary-general of the State Council, or the central government of China, met in Beijing with foreign and Hong Kong participants of the second Sino-US International Conference for Public Administration.

The two-day conference was opened this morning with more than 180 participants from home and abroad. The theme of the meeting is "Changing world: the challenge and opportunities".

Hua said public administration in the world is an issue with common concern among governments, so this conference is of immediate significance.

The Chinese government, since its opening-up and reform in 1978, has attached great importance to reforms of the public administrative system, Hua said, adding that during the reform the Chinese government would like to listen to suggestions from experts.

Hua also briefed the guests on China's reforms in this regard.

Marc Holzer, chairman of the American Society for Public Administration, said foreign scholars are very interested in China's public administration and hope to have more opportunities to exchange ideas with Chinese scholars.

(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2004)