On October 27, 2006, Chairman Jia Qinglin of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) met in Vilnius with Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas. Jia first conveyed the cordial greetings and best wishes from Premier Wen Jiabao to Kirkilas. Kirkilas expressed thanks for this and asked Jia to convey his cordial greetings and best wishes to Wen.

Jia said despite the great changes in the international situation and their national circumstances, bilateral ties have always maintained a momentum of sound development since the establishment of diplomatic ties between both sides and the exchanges and cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, culture and education have yielded positive results. All this can be attributed to the efforts of both sides to develop bilateral ties in the principles of mutual respect, equality and non-interference in each other's internal affairs, expand trade cooperation based on mutual respect, promote cultural, regional and people-to-people exchanges in the spirit of mutual understanding and learning from each other and show understanding and give consideration to each other's concerns in international affairs. China appreciates Lithuania's adherence to the one-China policy, Jia said. He expressed belief that with the joint efforts of both sides, bilateral friendly cooperation will have a better future.

Kirkilas fully agreed to Jia's comments on bilateral ties. He said since the establishment of diplomatic ties, both sides attach great importance to developing political relations and have been actively advancing trade cooperation. He said currently bilateral ties enjoy smooth development and their exchanges and cooperation have scored remarkable results in the economic, trade, cultural and other areas. China will continue to pursue the one-China policy and is ready to strengthen high-level visits, expand cooperation areas and push for the friendly cooperation between both sides, he added.

On bilateral trade ties, Jia said although the two countries have already expanded the scale of their economic and trade cooperation, there is still a great potential in tapping into new areas of cooperation. He said China encourages and supports cooperation between enterprises of both sides at all levels and in various forms, and is ready to actively discuss and promote cooperation on port construction and transportation and push for sustained and steady development of bilateral trade cooperation for the benefit of both peoples.

Kirkilas said his country has unique advantages in ports, transportation and other areas and ranks high in Europe in terms of investment and market attraction. Lithuania welcomes more Chinese businesses to invest there and establish closer cooperative ties with Chinese businesses, he said.

On the same day, Jia went to the city of Trakai to learn about economic development there. On the evening, Jia met in the hotel where he stayed with the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Lithuania and representatives from Chinese-funded institutions, Chinese students and overseas Chinese.

Secretary-General of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Zheng Wantong and other major accompanying officials attended the meeting and related activities.