October 23, 2000, Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with French President Jacques Chirac and European Commission President Romano Prodi, who are here for the Third Summit of China and the European Union (EU). The two sides held friendly talks.


President Chirac expressed his gratitude for the warm reception accorded to him by the Chinese side, and said that the meeting he and President Prodi had with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji earlier in the day was held in a friendly atmosphere, during which they exchanged views on wide-ranging issues and reached broad consensus.


Prodi said that the two sides should establish a close relationship in the fields of economy, trade and politics, and they should become even more important and cooperative partners to each other. Chirac said he hopes that the Third Sino-EU Summit will push forward the development of Sino-EU relations.


President Jiang pointed out that Sino-EU relations have made new progress steadily in recent years. He added that frequent contacts between leaders of the two sides have played a role in promoting bilateral relations. Jiang said that he has visited six EU member countries in his three trips to Western Europe since last year. He was impressed by the fact that the EU places great importance on developing relations with China. China also attaches great importance to the role and position of the EU. We deem that the EU's growth is conducive to pushing forward the multi-polarity and the establishment of a new international political and economic order. He said that both China and the EU play important roles in international affairs and the leaders of both sides should approach bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, so as to further strengthen cooperation in the new century.


Chirac said the EU believes that Sino-EU negotiations concerning China's accession to WTO are satisfactory, and the two sides should present political wills to solve the remaining issues, adding that the EU will take a positive attitude toward seeking an early settlement of the issue.


President Jiang said that he was pleased with the good talks between President Chirac, President Prodi and Premier Zhu Rongji earlier today, adding that the EU expressed the willingness to work with China to conclude the multilateral negotiations concerning China's accession to WTO in the coming weeks, in a bid to push for an early entry. Jiang said that China and the EU should approach the multilateral negotiations concerning China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) from a strategic perspective, enabling China to join the global trading system at an early date, which is in the shared interests of both sides. The EU's attitude is very important to accelerating the negotiations. It is China?s hope to gain support from the EU, President Chirac and President Prodi.


During the meeting, President Jiang expounded China's stances on the question of Taiwan and the human rights issue. The EU side stated that the EU would continue to pursue the one-China policy, and never support Taiwan's independence.