A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said in Nicosia Monday that China will make concerted efforts with the international community to seek a fair and reasonable solution to the Cyprus issue.

Wu Guanzheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, elaborated China's principled stance on the Cyprus issue during a meeting with Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos.

Wu conveyed regards from Chinese President Hu Jintao to Papadopoulos who asked Wu to return his best wishes to Hu.

China and Cyprus support each other and have had good cooperation on international issues since the two countries forged diplomatic ties, Wu said.

The Chinese official said that China is satisfied with the current state of bilateral ties and that the new Chinese leadership attaches great importance to the China-Cyprus relations and will work with Cyprus to push bilateral ties to a new high in the new century, in line with the five principles of peaceful coexistence.

On the party-to-party relations, Wu said the CPC is willing to undertake party-to-party exchanges and cooperation with the Democratic Party headed by Papadopoulos, to push forward the overall development of bilateral ties.

During the meeting, Papadopoulos congratulated China on its first manned space mission of Shenzhou-5.

On the Cyprus-China ties, he said this relationship can be cited as an example of state-to-state ties between developing nations, as it is based on equal footing, mutual support and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In recent years, the president said, both sides have carried out frequent high-level visits while the economic and trade ties have witnessed smooth development.

Cyprus expects both countries to score greater achievements in bilateral friendly cooperation in various fields, Papadopoulos said.

The two sides also exchanged views on the international situation and regional issues. Wu congratulated Papadopoulos on the signing of the document for Cyprus' accession to the European Union.

Papadopoulos thanked China for its support on the Cyprus issue, saying Cyprus will, as always, strengthen its consultation and cooperation with China on international issues.

Wu appreciated Cyprus' constant principled stance of adhering to the one-China policy.

Wu kicked off his official good-will visit to Cyprus Saturday, after concluding his Omani tour that started on Oct. 21.

Late on Monday, Wu is scheduled to leave for Syria, the last leg of his three-nation tour to the Middle East.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2003)