President Jiang Zemin met with a US Chamber of Commerce delegation led by its President and CEO Thomas Donohue in Beijing Thursday.

The US Senate passed the bill of granting China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status yesterday. Jiang said that it is a major issue as well as a good thing.

He said granting China the PNTR status at an earlier date conforms to the interest of both China and the US and also benefits global economic and trade development.

Jiang expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by President Bill Clinton and the US chamber of commerce in helping China achieve the PNTR status as soon as possible.

He pointed out that we should deal with Sino-US relations with a long-term perspective. At the turn of the century and the beginning of the new millennium, Jiang hopes that China and the US would take into consideration the fundamental interests of the people of the two countries and the rest of the world, and promote the Sino-US bilateral and economic and trade relations to a new height.

Donohue said that the passing of the bill by the US Senate with an overwhelming majority gives more room for Sino-US economic and trade cooperation. He added that the US commerce chambers will further improve the cooperation of the two countries in all fields.

Donohue and his party are visiting China at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

(People's Daily 09/22/2000)