Relevant countries' legal rights in the reconstruction of Iraq should be respected and all countries should equally and jointly participate in Iraq's reconstruction, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Friday.

Liu made the remarks when asked to comment on the fact that several anti-Iraq war countries including China were excluded by the United States from tendering for the Iraq reconstruction contracts of 18.6 billion US dollars.

Liu said the Chinese side is concerned about the US action, which is unhelpful to mobilizing the international community to join in the Iraq reconstruction.

China and the international community have made great efforts on the Iraq issue and have provided humanitarian assistance to Iraq, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2003)