Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao paid a courtesy call on Australian Governor-General Michael Jeffery on Wednesday and both voiced satisfaction with the development of cooperative relations between the two countries.

Jeffery said President Hu's visit to Australia is an honor both for the country and the Australian people and is of historic significance.

Hu arrived in Sydne earlier in the day for a three-day state visit to Australia.

Australia is pleased with the progress that has been made in cooperation between the two countries in the political and economic fields and personnel exchanges, Jeffery said. He offered his country's congratulations on the successful launch of China's first manned space flight.

Hu spoke highly of the all-round relations of cooperation between China and Australia. Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the Sino-Australian ties have been developing well and there have been frequent exchanges of visits by top-level officials of the two countries.

Bilateral economic and technological cooperation has steadily expanded, and two-way trade exceeded 10 billion US dollars last year, a 120-fold increase over 30 years ago when the two countries established diplomatic relations, the Chinese president said. The strategic cooperation in the energy sector between the two countries has also witnessed a good start, Hu added.

Hu said that during his visit, he will meet Australian leaders as well as public figures from all walks of life in Australia to have wide-ranging discussions on ways to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation so as to give a fresh impetus to the development of bilateral ties.

The two leaders also exchanged views on issues related to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and other issues of common concern.

(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2003)