On October 2, 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks in Shanghai Xijiao Guest House with his Icelandic counterpart Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who is here to attend the opening ceremony of the 12th Special Olympics Summer Games and to visit China. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the in-depth development of bilateral ties, agreeing to continue joint efforts to push bilateral cooperation in all areas for greater achievements.

Highlighting the progress of China-Iceland relations in recent years, Hu said the two countries have conducted close exchanges between government agencies and regions, strengthened mutual understanding and political trust, developed trade relations steadily and conducted fruitful cultural exchanges and cooperation with sound communication and consultations on major international issues.

Hu said China attaches importance to ties with Iceland and is ready to work with it to continue tapping potential for cooperation, so as to make their relationship a model of friendly cooperation among countries that are different in territory, population and social system. Hu raised a four-point proposal to further cement bilateral ties. First, strengthen political trust. He proposed to maintain high-level exchanges between the two countries, and facilitate exchanges between governments, parliaments and political parties. Second, expand economic and trade cooperation. He expressed hope that negotiation work can be sped up to complete a free trade agreement at an early date, in a bid to create better conditions for bilateral trade. He suggested the two sides strengthen cooperation in fields of logistics, medicine, finance, product quality inspection, food processing and engineering. Third, deepen scientific and technological cooperation. "We are ready to learn from Iceland's advanced experience in research into volcano, earthquake and glacier, and utilization of geothermic and clean energy," he said, adding that China hopes to see implementation of relevant bilateral agreements in these areas. Fourth, push for cultural exchanges. He urged both sides to enhance exchanges between academic groups, talent pools and media.

Describing the Iceland-China relations as "strong", Grimsson said recent years have witnessed deepening friendship and major progress of cooperation in all areas. The two sides have set up cooperation framework in the areas of trade, culture and clean energy and the FTA negotiations are well under way with sound cooperation in utilizing geothermic and clean energy and raising energy efficiency, he said. Agreeing with Hu's proposals on developing bilateral ties, Grimsson expressed hope that both sides will continuously explore new areas for cooperation and push their pragmatic cooperation to a new stage.

Grimsson reiterated his country's adherence to the one-China policy, adding it is a headstone for bilateral ties as well as a foundation for the two countries to conduct international cooperation. Hu expressed appreciation for such a stance.

The Chinese president also appreciated Grimsson for paying close attention to and supporting the Shanghai Special Olympics Summer Games. He said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the Games and hopes that it will be a great success, contributing to the development of world Special Olympics movement.

Grimsson said China has made very good preparations for the Games, expressing his belief the Games would yield profound influence on the development of world Special Olympics movement.

Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, State Councilor Chen Zhili and other officials attended the talks.