Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to France, Egypt, Gabon and Algeria from January 26 to February 4 at the invitation of French President Jacques Chirac, Egyptian President Muhammed Hosni Mubarak, Gabonese President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.  

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan made the announcement in Beijing Thursday at a regular press conference.

During his two- to three-day visit to France, President Hu will meet Chirac to discuss bilateral relations for the 21st century and international questions, Kong said.

Hu may also give a speech at the French Parliament and meet with French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and parliamentary leaders.

During his visit in France, Hu may also appear at a Chinese cultural exhibition, a follow-up event to mark the Chinese-French Cultural Year.

Kong noted that Sino-French ties had grown smoothly ever since the two nations forged a comprehensive partnership oriented to the 21st century in 1997.

President Hu's upcoming visit to Egypt will further strengthen ties for mutual benefit.

During his visit, noted the spokesman, Hu would hold talks with Egyptian President Mubarak, and meet with parliamentary leaders.

Sino-Egyptian relations had developed rapidly since the two countries established their strategic and cooperative relationship oriented to the 21st century in 1999, and bilateral cooperation in all fields expanded, Kong acknowledged.

Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will accompany President Hu during the four-nation trip.

Detailed agendas for Hu's visits are not finalized.

With respect to the visit to China by Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, the spokesman said it will play a positive role in promoting bilateral military relations.

Myers arrived in Beijing Tuesday for a good-will and official visit, and, during his stay in Beijing, he met with Jiang Zemin, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and other military leaders.

Kong said Myers and Chinese officials discussed three topics:

l         The formation of constructive China-US relations. China and the United States have differences, but they are outweighed by common interests. The development of China-US constructive and cooperative relations benefits both countries, and is conducive to world peace and stability.

l         The military relationship, which is an important component of the state relationship. The two sides agreed to promote contacts and mutual understanding in military relations.

l         The Taiwan issue, which is the most important and sensitive issue in China-US relations. The Chinese government adheres to the principles of "peaceful reunification", and "one country and two systems", and would like to make all efforts to achieve peaceful reunification, but it will not allow Taiwan's independence. CMC Chairman Jiang Zemin reaffirmed that China valued the US government's commitment, and hoped the US side would play a constructive role in the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue.

Turning to the Sino-US trade problems, the spokesman said China has always maintained that issues cropping up during the development of Sino-US economic and trade relations should be solved through friendly negotiations.

Problems arising during the rapid development of economic and trade relations between China and the United States are unavoidable, Kong said.

Chinese officials of the Ministry of Commerce exchanged views with a team from the US Department of Commerce which paid a visit to China recently, he noted.

It is in the spirit of friendly negotiation that the Chinese side and the US side have contacts with each other, he added.

The spokesman also briefed journalists on the recently completed second round of ministerial-level discussions on border issues between China and India held Monday and Tuesday in Beijing between Dai Bingguo, vice foreign minister of China, and Brajesh Mishra, Indian national security adviser and principal secretary to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who headed the talks as special representatives on each side.

Kong said the talks were "positive" and the atmosphere was "constructive."

Noting that the border issues between China and India have existed for a long period of time, Kong said the Chinese side hopes the issues can be solved in the spirit of mutual adjustment, understanding and concession.

However, such complicated issues cannot achieve rapid progress through only one or two rounds of talks, stressed Kong.

He said the two sides have agreed to hold the third round of talks in New Delhi. The two countries held the first round of ministerial-level talks on Oct. 23 and 24, 2003.

He introduced that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met respectively with Mishra, whose visit Kong called important and beneficial.

On the Sikkim issue, Kong said it is left over by history, and the process toward resolution of this issue was initiated during Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China last year.

Turning to the Korean nuclear issue, the spokesman said progress has been made in the preparatory work for the second round of six-party talks.

Kong said China is in constant communication with various parties so that the second round of six-party talks can start at an early date.

Fu Ying, head of the Asian Affairs Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and Ning Fukui, an ambassador-level official with the Chinese Foreign Ministry in charge of affairs concerning the Korean Peninsula, have almost finished their activities in the United States, said Kong.

According to Kong, Fu and Ning have met with US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and some White House senior officials in charge of Asian affairs.

Kong said Fu and Ning's visit has been beneficial. China hopes that when the second round of six-party talks is held, all the six parties will make efforts to solve the Korean nuclear issue in the spirit of mutual respect and equal consultation.

In August 2003, China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan held the first round of six-party talks in Beijing.

In another development, the spokesman said China has implemented a series of measures to prevent bird flu from entering the country.

Kong said China's Ministry of Agriculture and State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine had taken strict measures to forbid imports of certain live poultry and related products from countries hit by bird flu.

The Chinese government attached great importance to the issues concerned with bird flu, Kong said, adding that China hoped those affected countries would implement effective measures to stop the spread of bird flu as soon as possible.

It is reported that Vietnam, Japan and the Republic of Korea have been struck by bird flu.

Also at yesterday's press conference, the spokesman said China's current epidemic reporting system is efficient and transparent.

Kong said that the spokesman of China's Ministry of Health reports epidemic information everyday at 4:00 pm (Beijing time), and China's epidemic monitoring and reporting systems are operating efficiently.

China's epidemic reports also gained high appreciation from the World Health Organization, said Kong.

He said China's official epidemic information is accurate and all the epidemic information has to be confirmed before reporting.

Kong said that the measures taken by the Chinese government at present against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are integrated and the whole epidemic prevention and treatment mechanism has been gradually perfected after the fight against SARS last year.

The Chinese government is fully confident of preventing the SARS epidemic from breaking out and spreading again, he said.

(Sources including Xinhua News Agency and China Daily, January 16, 2004)