Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said in Beijing Wednesday that he hopes China and the United States would achieve progress in their discussion on arms control.

Tang told a press conference held by the Fifth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress that a senior official with the Chinese Foreign Ministry is in Washington for a seminar on arms control and disarmament.

The Chinese official will also have in-depth consultation with officials from the US State Department not only on arms control but also on such issues as strategic stability throughout the world, Tang said.

The Chinese foreign minister expressed the hope that China and the United States would make progress in the discussions.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2002)