Zhang: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I shall start with three announcements.

At the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council, Prime Minister Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of the State of Kuwait will pay an official visit to China from July 5th to 12th.

At the invitation of Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Ivanovich Cryshchenko of Ukraine will pay an official visit to China from July 2nd to 7th.

At the invitation of the Chinese Government, Finance Ministers of the GCC member states, including Finance Minister Al-Nouri of Kuwait, Finance and Industrial Minister of State Affairs Kharbash of the United Arab Emirates, Finance Minister Al-Assaf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Minister Saif of Finance and National Economy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Minister Macki of National Economy of the Sultan State of Amen, Finance Minister Kamal of the State of Qatar and GCC Secretary General Attiyah will pay a joint visit to China from July 4th to 7th.

Q: The EU has decided not to recognize China as a market economy, what's your comment?

A: We have taken note of the EU's decision. We believe that the EU should give full consideration to the fact that the socialist market economic system has been primarily established in China. An early and correct decision of the EU will benefit not only China but also the further development of the relationship between China and the EU.

It's been 25 years since China's adoption of the reform and opening up policy and three years since China's accession to the WTO. Non-public sectors including those self-employed and collectively-owned have taken up a considerable share in the whole national economy. Statistics demonstrate that the price of over 90 percent commodities is determined by the market. After its accession to the WTO, China has been trying hard to fulfill the obligations of a WTO member, revising and updating nearly 3000 laws and regulations as well as economic and trade policies to fully match the WTO rules. With the transformation of the functions of the government and the deepening of restructuring, enterprises have increasingly become the independently-run economic entities. The EU should take these changes into consideration and recognize China as a market economy at an early date, which will be good for the comprehensive and deepened cooperation between China and EU members. It's unreasonable and contradictory for the EU and European countries to hope for China's strict and serious implementation of the WTO rules and member's obligation but refuse to recognize China as a market economy.

Q: What will be the next step for China to settle the issue concerning market economy status? Does China intend to maintain consultation with the EU or will you accept some of the proposals in the EU report?

A: Although it made the decision, still the EU and its members noted that they would further study the question. Relevant authorities of China will also hold dialogue with the EU. In recent years, the relationship between China and the EU has been greatly developed; therefore I believe the question will be settled sooner or later. We hope that the EU can seriously consider the fact I mentioned earlier and recognize China as a market economy at an early date so that economic and trade relations and the relationship in all other fields between China and the EU can been deepened and developed comprehensively.

Q: The DPRK and the US made comments after the Six-Party Talks, what's China reaction?

A: I have taken note of the comments made by relevant parties after the talks. On the whole, all the six parties agreed that it was constructive with concrete results. Head of the Chinese delegation, Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi summarized the major achievements after the talks concluded, which include, relevant parties, the DPRK and the US in particular put forth detailed plans to settle the question; parties reached consensus on the first phase of the nuclear dismantlement; the principle and methods of the peaceful solution to the nuclear question were further clarified; the responsibilities and operational mechanism of the working group was defined; consensus was also reached on the date of the next round of the Six-Party Talks and the Chairman's Statement was passed. All these are achieved under the joint efforts of the six parties and the international community. We hope that the relevant parities can work on the basis of the achievements of the third round of the Six-Party Talks so that we can take a new step in the future talks on issues of substance.

Q: Argentina President is here in China for a visit. He signed a series of agreements with China yesterday. Can you brief us on that? What's the significance of the visit to the bilateral relationship between China and Argentina?

A: President Kirchner is in Beijing for a visit. He arrived here the night before last night, held talks with President Hu Jingtao and signed agreements concerning culture, civil aviation, health, agriculture and investment. Both sides reached agreement on mutual recognition of tourist destination, which will further expand bilateral exchanges. An economic and trade symposium was held during the visit. Both sides attach importance to the visit. The delegation is quite large with high-level officials and many entrepreneurs.

President Kirshner will exchange views with China on bilateral ties and international issues of mutual interest. He is also here in the capacity of the President of Mercosur. During his visit, the fifth dialogue between China and Mercosur will be held, which was launched in 1997. Both sides deem it necessary to enhance political, economic and trade cooperation, and take advantage of the new cooperation mechanism with Mercosur to explore rich and concrete cooperation so as to bring real benefits to both sides.

The visit hasn't concluded yet. Chairman Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao will meet with President Kirshner this afternoon. The visit will promote the development of relationship between China and Argentina, China and Mercosur countries.

Q: India and Pakistan have started holding formal talks to solve their disputes, what's your comment?

A: We welcome the successful dialogue between India and Pakistan at the Foreign Secretary's level, through which their bilateral ties have been further improved. It's a very significant step towards comprehensive dialogue. We hope that both sides can further press ahead with the process, solve their disputes and questions through peace talks so as to make concerted efforts towards peace and stability of South Asia.

Q: Could you please brief us on the visit of GCC? I didn't quite catch you. What's the significance of the visit?

A: From July 4th to 7th, Finance Ministers of GCC members, namely, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Amen and Qatar together with the GCC Secretary General Attiyah will pay a joint visit to China. Chinese leadership will meet and have talks with the delegation. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will have political consultation with Secretary General Attiyah.

I'd like to say a few more words on the relationship between China and the GCC, which dates back to 1981 when it was founded. Since 1990, Chinese foreign ministers met with their counterparts of the GCC member states and its Secretary General each year during the UN General Assembly sessions. In 1996, political and economic consultation mechanism between the two was established followed by several rounds of political consultation. In the meantime, the friendly relations and cooperation have been progressing steadily with rapid development in economic ties and trade. Bilateral trade volume between China and the GCC registered 16.9 billion US dollars in 2003. GCC members have become important trade partners for China in West Asia and North Africa. China attaches great importance to the visit and is making serious preparation for it.

Q: Pakistani Prime Minister Jamali resigned, what's your comment on the domestic situation there?

A: Prime Minister Jamali's resignation is internal affairs of Pakistan. I have no comment on that. During his tenure, Prime Minister Jamali made great efforts for the promotion of friendly relations between China and Pakistan, which the Chinese Government and people know very clearly. He also visited China twice in that capacity. Thanks to the efforts made by both sides, friendly relations and cooperation have been constantly consolidated and developed.