The first round of China-OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) dialogue was held yesterday at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna.

The Chinese delegation, headed by Xu Dingming, director of the Energy Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was officially welcomed at the OPEC Secretariat.

The Chinese delegation frankly exchanged views with Mohammed S. Barkindo, acting OPEC secretary general, and other representatives from the OPEC member countries.

"How to boost the China-OPEC cooperation in the area of energy resource was the main topic of the talks," said Liu Deshun, a section chief from the Energy Bureau of the NDRC, in an interview with Xinhua.

"The two sides reached consensus that promoting the dialogues between China and OPEC is of great importance," he said.

The two-day meeting was held within the framework of China-OPEC regular energy dialogue system, which was created by the two sides during the visit of former OPEC rotating president, Kuwait's Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, in China last December.
The second round dialogue will be held in China in 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2006)