US President George W. Bush said in Washington on Thursday that he regretted the missing of a Chinese pilot in the air collision incident.

"I regret that a Chinese pilot is missing and I regret that one of their airplanes is lost. Our prayers go out to the pilot, his family," Bush said.

Speaking at a convention of newspaper editors, Bush said U.S. relationship with China is very important and he hoped that the incident would not destabilize the relations.

On April 1, a U.S. military plane caused the crash of a Chinese jet fighter off the coast off Hainan Island in South China Sea. Up till now, the Chinese pilot is still missing.

(Xinhua 04/06/2001)