On the afternoon of July 19, 2001,President Jiang met with Belarussian Prime Minister Vladimir Yermoshin at the Government House of Belarus.

Extending warm welcome to Jiang on behalf of the Belarussian government, Yermoshin thanked Jiang for meeting with government officials of Belarus amidst his packed schedule.

Yermoshin noted that the close personal ties between Jiang and President Lukashenko and the high-level bilateral relations between the two countries have laid solid foundation for bilateral cooperation in all fields.

Expressing pleasure of making acquaintance with Yermoshin, Jiang noted that Yermoshin visited China as Minsk Mayor once, adding that Yermoshin has made contributions to the friendly cooperation between the capitals of the two countries. He also conveyed Premier Zhu Rongji's cordial greetings and best wishes to Yermoshin.

Jiang went on to say that President Lukashenko briefed him on the achievements Belarus has scored in maintaining national stability, developing its national economy and improving people's lives during his visit to China this April. He said that now he saw these achievements for himself, adding that as Belarus's friend, China is very glad to see that Belarussian economy has kept growing at a rare high speed for the past five years.

Jiang noted that bilateral relations have been developing in a sound and stable manner since the two countries forged diplomatic ties nearly 10 years ago. He said that propelled by the frequent high-level visits between the two countries, bilateral cooperation has been further expanded and deepened in various specific areas. He noted that the two countries hold the same or similar views on almost all the major regional and international issues and the common ground is expanding. He added that the two countries have rendered mutual assistance to each other in major questions of principle and concern to each other. It can very well be said, in the just past 20th century, China-Belarus relations have already established a good foundation for further development.

Jiang said that he and President Lukashenko met in Beijing and signed China-Belarus Joint Statement this April, which points out the direction and lays out basic principles and framework for the development of China-Belarus relations in the 21st century. He added that there is every reason to believe that China-Belarus relations will show even stronger vitality and dynamism in the 21st century.

Jiang said China attaches great importance to the USD 500-million target for bilateral trade volume put forward by President Alexander Lukashenko. He went on to say that China and Belarus enjoy good political relations and economic complementarity, adding that the target can be reached with joint efforts of the two sides.

Yermoshin said that though the economic cooperation and trade between Belarus and China have been upgraded, the Belarussian side is not yet very satisfied. He added that the Belarussian side will continue to make efforts and cooperate closely with the Chinese side so as to reach the target of 500 million dollars jointly proposed by President Jiang and President Lukashenko.

Jiang also briefed Yermoshin on China's western development strategy, saying that this will bring great opportunities for companies of both countries.