State councilor Tang Jiaxuan held talks in Beijing Tuesday with a delegation of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and the two sides exchanged comprehensive views on the promotion of bilateral relations and other issues of common interest.

The delegation included Kuwaiti Minister of Finance Mahmoud Abdelkhaliq Alnouri, United Arab Emirates' Minister of State for Financial and Industrial Affairs Mohammed Khalfan Bin Kharbash, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Finance Ibrahim Bin Abdel Aziz Al-assaf,Bahrain's Minister of Finance and National Economy Abdullah Hassan Seif, Omani Minister of National Economy Ahmed Abdul Nabi Macki, Qatari Minister of Finance Yousuf Hussein Kamal, and GCC Secretary-General Abdul-rahman Al-attiyah.

Tang said the GCC was an important regional organization and China and the GCC enjoyed good relations as well as supported and coordinated with each other on important international issues.

China appreciated the GCC's stance on the one-China policy and human rights. In recent years, bilateral friendly cooperation developed rapidly, with economy complementary to each other and huge cooperative potential existing, Tang said.

Delegates from the GCC said that the GCC valued the relations with China and that with this visit, friendly cooperation would be consolidated and promoted in politics and economy.

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2004)