President Hu to meet Bush at UN summit
By Hu Xiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-09-14 06:04

President Hu Jintao is expected to meet his US counterpart George W. Bush today in New York before they attend the UN summit.

The meeting between Hu and Bush in New York is an important one for Sino-US relations, which are at "a crucial period" linking the past to the future, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang yesterday at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

"China and the United States are influential countries in the world. The two nations enjoy extensive and important common interests both in bilateral and multilateral co-operative areas despite some differences between them," he said.

"We would like to work with the United States to look at and address bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective so as to push forward Sino-US constructive co-operative relations."

The talks between the two presidents in New York will not replace Hu's planned visit to Washington, which both sides agreed to postpone because of Hurricane Katrina.

Later today, Hu will attend the opening ceremony of the UN summit and deliver speeches at the plenary session and high-level meeting on Development and Financing, as well as the Summit of the Security Council.

During the summit meeting, Hu will disclose a series of measures by China to enhance co-operation with developing nations, related to debts, development and other issues of concern, according to sources at the Foreign Ministry.