Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President George W. Bush reached consensus on many important issues and achieved positive results in many areas during their formal talks at the Great Hall of the People Thursday, President Jiang told a joint press conference with President Bush at the Great Hall of the People on the conclusion of their talks in Beijing.

For his part, President Bush called the talks with Chinese President Jiang Zemin "very candid and positive," and he invited President Jiang to the United States before attending Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meetings in Mexico in October this year.

In their talks, the two Presidents reviewed 30 years of Sino-US relations and held in-depth discussions on bilateral relations and the current international situation.

Chinese President Jiang said that China and the United States have different conditions and that the existence of some differences is normal. But as long as both sides adhere to the spirit of mutual respect, equality, and seeking common ground while reserving differences, the two sides could continuously reduce differences, have consensus on a broader range of issues and promote cooperation between the two countries.

President Jiang also said that the two sides hold the common view that -- faced with the current complicated and constantly changing international situation and given the important influence of the countries in the world -- China and the United States should reinforce their dialogues and cooperation at different levels and between different departments, appropriately handle differences and jointly promote the development of Sino-US constructive cooperation relations so as to increase mutual understanding and mutual trust.

President Jiang said that China and the US will convene three joint meetings on economy, trade, and science and technology respectively within this year. The two sides agreed to actively carry out exchanges and cooperation in economics and trade, energy, science and technology, environmental protection, prevention and treatment of AIDS, law enforcement and other fields, and hold strategic dialogues on regional economic and financial issues.

In terms of the international anti-terror campaign, Chinese President Jiang and US President Bush agreed to step up consultations and cooperation in this regard on a two-way and mutually beneficial basis, and reinforce medium- and long-term mechanisms for anti-terror exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

As for Taiwan Issue, Chinese President Jiang stressed that appropriately handling the Taiwan question is the key to ensuring a steady development of Sino-US relations. During his formal talks with US President Bush, President Jiang explained to Bush the Chinese government's basic position of "peaceful reunification; one country, two systems" regarding the settlement of the Taiwan question. US President Bush stressed that the US side will adhere to the One China policy and observe the three Sino-US joint communiques.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2002)