On June 23, 2004, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council met with Syrian President Bashar Assad at Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai.

Wen Jiabao said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the relations between China and Syria have enjoyed sustained and stable development. Politically, the two sides trust each other and treat each other as equals. Economically, the two sides have conducted friendly cooperation on the basis of reciprocity and mutual benefit. In international affairs, the two sides have shown mutual understanding for and coordinated closely with each other.

Wen Jiabao noted that both China and Syria are developing countries, so to have closer bilateral economic and trade relations and make full use of their respective advantages in resources and markets conform to the needs for economic development and national construction of the two countries. Currently, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries enjoys a good basis and favorable conditions. It is hoped that the two sides will continue to tap the potentials, explore new areas and means of cooperation, enhance mutual understanding between their respective enterprises and upgrade the level of mutual investment.

Finally, Wen Jiabao said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to China-Syria relations and would like to work together with Syria to carry out the consensus reached by heads of state of the two countries to continuously push the bilateral relations towards comprehensive development.

Bashar said that both Syria and China have the strong aspiration for further enhancing the bilateral relations. The fruitful achievements of his visit to China have laid down a solid basis for the continuous expansion of cooperation between the two countries. Apart from energy and tourism, Syria would also like to conduct active cooperation with Chinese enterprises in the fields of manufacturing, communications, electronics as well as high and new technologies.