President Lennart Meri and Mrs. Helle Meri received Li Peng, Chairman of the Parliament of the People’s Republic of China, and Mrs. Zhu Lin, in Kadriorg at noon today.

On the meeting that lasted for more than an hour, relations between Estonia and China were discussed; both sides considered the relations to be excellent. Li Peng confirmed that China admires Estonia’s success and that for China, all countries, large or small, are equal. Li Peng confirmed his support to Estonia’s accession to the European Union, and expressed China’s conviction that the European Union should play a greater role in the world than it has done so far.

President of the Republic thanked China for the support and for the fact that already 40 years ago, China had declared non-recognition of the Soviet hegemony over Baltic States. Also the possibilities to enhance co-operation between Estonia and China in the fields of economy, science and culture were discussed, and President of the Republic emphasised the potential importance of Estonian ports for the transport of goods from China.

Li Peng forwarded to President of the Republic the invitation of Jiang Zemin, President of the People’s Republic of China, to visit Beijing, pointing out that the Estonian President’s last visit to China had taken place in 1994, and that there have been many changes since then.

Also issues of world politics were discussed on the meeting, and both parties agreed that the views of Estonia and China are very similar.

At the end of the meeting, President of the Republic handed over a gift to the guest – a photograph of the Chinese soldiers participating on the ERNA exercise.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, September 9, 2000

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