President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos has said in Nicosia that his country would further promote the already cordial and important relations with China and enhance bilateral cooperation in economy and tourism.

In an exclusive written interview with Xinhua prior to a five-day state visit to China beginning today, Papadopoulos said his upcoming visit would provide an opportunity to further consolidate the political bilateral cooperation and exchange views on major international issues of common interest.

As this year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cyprus and China, he praised the steady and decisive development of bilateral ties in the past 35 years and put Cyprus-China relations as one of the top priories of Cyprus's policy.

"I am particularly happy to observe that the past few years have witnessed a rapid development of our traditional friendly relations in various fields, on the basis of equality and mutual respect," he said.

The president said he also viewed the visit as a chance to explore new economic and trade partnerships, and increase exchanges between the two peoples, especially in the field of tourism.

He highly valued the economic and trade cooperation between his country and China in recent years, saying "recent years have witnessed a fast growth in trade relations between our two sides and this development naturally is greatly facilitated by the existence of a framework of excellent political relations between Cyprus and China."

He said "we would encourage, for instance, the registration and establishment of international (offshore) companies by Chinese entrepreneurs in Cyprus, as well as Chinese investment in our country."

"Cyprus has the lowest corporation tax in the European Union (EU), at a level of 10 percent on taxable profit of such companies," he added.

Cyprus would strengthen cooperation with Chinese travel agencies organizing multi-country trips to Europe, the president said, noting he hoped the Chinese agencies would list Cyprus on their tourist maps.

Furthermore, he said Cyprus, as a member of the European Union, hopes to make some positive contributions to the promotion of the strategic relationship between the EU and China.

Cyprus is participating in the dialogue between the EU and China, and will continue to support legitimate requests that Beijing is negotiating with Brussels, he added.

"A very recent example was the debate on imposing a 26 percent import duty on Chinese shoes, where Cyprus had a most constructive role," said the president.

Located in the close proximity of the trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, Russia and the Far East, Cyprus is becoming an increasingly attractive center of services, Papadopoulos said.

Papadopoulos reiterated his country's adherence to the one-China policy, saying "Cyprus unreservedly supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the People's Republic of China."

The president said Cyprus shares the view that the existing problem in cross-Straits relations between China's mainland and Taiwan can be solved on the basis of "one country, two systems."

He also expressed the confidence that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games would be a tremendous success, which would prove once again that China is capable of great achievements.

He added that he sincerely believes that China fully deserves to be the host of the next Olympics and the organization will excel any previous ones.

China and Cyprus established diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level on Dec. 14, 1971. Bilateral relations have been developing smoothly ever since.

Invited by Chinese President Hu Jintao, Papadopoulos will pay a state visit to China on Dec. 4-8.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2006)