Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Beijing Wednesday.

Since the establishment of their bilateral relations, China and Syria have kept sustained and stable development in their friendship, Wen said. The two countries trusted in and equally treated with each other politically, reached reciprocity and mutual benefit economically, and supported and cooperated with each other in international affairs.

Wen noted that as the two developing countries, China and Syria should further strengthen their trade and economic ties and capitalize on the advantage of each other's resources and markets.

With a sound basis for trade and economic cooperation, Wen acknowledged, China and Syria are expected to further tap the potential and explore new areas of cooperation.

It's useful for enterprises of both countries to increase their mutual understanding and increase mutual investment, Wen said. The Chinese government attaches great importance to Sino-Syrian relations and would fully implement the consensus reached by Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Bashar al-Assad.

Bashar said both Syria and China shared the ardent aspiration of increasing their bilateral ties. He said he believed his China visit would lay a solid foundation for future cooperation of the two countries.

In addition to the fields of energy and tourism, he said, Syria is willing to cooperate more actively with the Chinese side in the spheres of manufacturing, telecommunication, electronics and high tech industries.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2004)