On December 8, 2005, after concluding his two-day official visit to Slovakia, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council arrived in Prague, capital of Czech, from Bratislava in his special plane.

Upon arrival, Premier Wen was warmly welcomed at the airport by the head of the Office of the Czech Government and other senior government officials, as well as the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Czech and representatives from Chinese-funded institutions, Chinese students studying in Czech and overseas Chinese living there. In his written speech delivered at the airport, Premier Wen said that holding the friendship of the Chinese people for the Czech people, he was to pay an official visit to the Czech Republic at the invitation of Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek.

Premier Wen said that the friendship between both peoples goes back to ancient times. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties more than half a century ago, the two peoples have always respected each other, treated each other as equals and conducted mutually beneficial cooperation. Both sides have carried out fruitful exchanges and cooperation in the areas of politics, economy & trade, culture & education and science & technology. To consolidate and deepen bilateral cooperative relations conforms to the fundamental interest of both peoples.

Wen said that he looked forward to exchanging views with President Vaclav Klaus, Speaker of the Senate Premysl Sobotka, Speaker of the House of Representatives Lubomir Zaoralek and Prime Minister Paroubek on strengthening bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues of common interest. He believed that this visit will further build up understanding and friendship between both peoples and push for in-depth development of bilateral cooperation in various areas.

He said that he would like to take this opportunity to extend sincere greetings and best wishes to the friendly Czech people on the behalf of the Chinese government and people.