On the afternoon of June 17, 2002, visiting President Jiang Zemin met with Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas at the hotel he stayed.

Jiang said that as the former president of Lithuania, Brazauskas has made quite important contribution to the construction of Lithuania and is also a pioneer in the development of friendly cooperative relations between China and Lithuania. Jiang recalled he and Brazauskas had a good talk when the latter visited China in 1993. The Joint Statement signed by both countreis at that time has always been a guiding principle in the development of bilateral relations through the past decade.

Brazauskas said that his visit to China in 1993 is very unforgettable. At that time Lithuania just regained its independence and its delegation received warm reception by the Chinese people.

On the prospect of bilateral relations, Jiang pointed out that both countries have achieved outstanding results in exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, education and journalism in the recent years. As a result, the mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples have been intensified. He considered the joint efforts made by both governments indispensible. That is also the reason why bilateral trade and economic relations have also gone on smoothly and the trade volume has increased year by year. Jiang said that Lithuania has a good geographical location, an excellent transportation system and a labor force with high quality, while China has remarkably raised its economic strength after more than 20 years' reform and opening-up and the modernization construction. Jiang said there is a lot to do for the two countries to cooperate with each other. After its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China will further open its market. Jiang said that in face of the opportunities, both governments should encourage and guide their enterprises to directly participate in exploring each other's market, introduce more products that enjoy competitive advantages in order to win more opportunities for cooperation. He said that he believes China-Lithuania mutually beneficial cooperation will deliver more fruitful results.

Brazauskas said the Lithuanian government actively advocates development of cooperation in all fields with China despite the distance between the two countries with China and Lithuania at different ends of the Eurasian continent. At present related departments of the two countries are discussing exchanges and cooperation between the customs, ports and local governments and Brazauskas hoped to see an early agreement between the two sides in order to enable an all-round development of friendly relations at different levels and in various fields.