Just one day ahead of the grand opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, Chinese President Hu Jintao had a very tight diplomatic schedule on Thursday, meeting separately with leaders from 11 foreign countries in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

The eleven included Laotian President Choummaly Saygnasone, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, DPRK top legislator KimYong Nam, Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, Serbian President Boris Tadic, Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic, and Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos Horta.

All the foreign leaders have come to the Chinese capital to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, scheduled for Friday evening in the National Stadium, popularly known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, President Hu extended a warm welcome to all the leaders, and thanked them for supporting the Beijing Olympic Games.

Meeting with his Laotian counterpart, Hu said that the two countries can achieve a win-win outcome through tapping economic complementarities, as China is encouraging its enterprises to invest overseas and Laos is trying to make a better use of its rich resources.

The Laotian president thanked China for all the past support and assistance, and expressed the hope that the two sides further strengthen their friendly cooperation.

While exchanging views on bilateral ties and other issues of common concern with the Brazilian president, Hu said that it is of great significance for China and Brazil, two major developing countries, to enhance bilateral cooperation and improve coordination in international affairs.

"China welcomes Brazil's recent initiatives to promote economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. The Chinese market is open to Brazilian products," Hu added.

The Brazilian president responded that Brazil is committed to deepening its strategic partnership with China.

The two leaders also agreed that the two countries should make efforts to push for the early resumption of the Doha round negotiations.

While meeting with his Algerian counterpart, Hu said that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Sino-Algerian diplomatic relations, and China is ready to work with Algeria to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation, and give an all-round push to the strategic cooperation between the two sides.

President Bouteflika said that the friendly relationship between China and Algeria has a long history, and has never gone astray ever since the two countries forged diplomatic ties.

Algeria welcomes more investment from Chinese businesses and hopes to see bilateral relations reach a new high, he added.

Meeting with the Kazakhstan leader, Hu said that China highly appreciated the president's firm support for the Beijing Olympics, as the president served as the first torchbearer for the Olympic torch relay in Alma-Ata in April, the first leg of the torch's global journey.

China has always attached strategic importance to its relations with Kazakhstan, and has regarded the development of such relations as a diplomatic priority, said the Chinese president.

Nazarbayev said that the consensus reached between the two leaders during their meeting last August is being effectively implemented, and the two countries have witnessed a rapid growth of bilateral trade and smooth progress of cooperation in the energy sector.

Kazakhstan supports China's stand on Taiwan and Tibet, and advocates joint efforts to strike the three forces of terrorism, extremism and separatism, the president stressed.

Meeting President Lukashenko, Hu said that China and Belarus have treated each other with candor and sincerity in the past 16years since the two countries established diplomatic ties, and have supported each other on major issues concerning national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"The Chinese side is ready to further deepen the comprehensive friendly cooperation between the two countries on an equal and mutually-beneficial basis, and will continue to encourage Chinese businesses to go to Belarus for investment and trade," he added.

Lukashenko agreed that the two countries are "sincere friends," and expressed the hope that the two sides would further deepen friendly and mutually-beneficial cooperation in all areas.

In his meeting with Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Hu said that in recent years the China-DPRK relations have developed in depth, and the two countries will name the next year "Year of China-DPRK Friendship" to mark the 60thanniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

"It is a strategic principle unswervingly followed by the Chinese Communist Party and government to continuously consolidate and develop the friendly and cooperative relationship between China and the DPRK," Hu told Kim.

Kim, who first conveyed DPRK top leader Kim Jong Il's best wishes for the Beijing Olympics, said that the China-DPRK friendship will always be a precious asset for the people of both countries.

During the meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Hu said that the Chinese Communist Party and government want to work with the Vietnamese Communist Party and government to "well steer the development of the relations" on the basis of a "strategic overview."

The Vietnamese president responded that Vietnam attaches great importance to the development of friendly relations with China, and is ready to work with the Chinese side to actively implement the important consensus reached between leaders of both countries.

On the South China Sea issue, Hu pointed out that both sides should keep in mind the overall development of bilateral relations and the fundamental interests of the two peoples, work hard to maintain stability in the South China Sea region, actively discuss ways of joint exploration, and push for pragmatic cooperation.

The Vietnamese leader expressed the hope that both sides could work together to maintain peace and friendship between the two countries.

Meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Hu said that China and Sri Lanka have set a good example for friendly cooperation between the two countries with different national conditions and different social systems.

Sri Lanka thanks China for its long-time support and assistance, and hopes that the two sides could further enhance cooperation in trade and economic fields as well as in personnel training, said President Rajapakse.

In his meeting with President Tadic, Hu pointed out that it is the common aspiration of the Chinese and Serbian peoples to consolidate and deepen friendly cooperation between the two countries, which will also serve the fundamental interests of both peoples.

"China would like to strengthen political dialogue and promote pragmatic cooperation with Serbia, and will encourage and support domestic enterprises to invest in Serbia," said Hu.

China also understands and supports Serbia's efforts to integrate with the rest of Europe, he added.

Pledging that Serbia will always be China's friend, Tadic said that the Serbian government and people appreciate China's precious support for Serbia's efforts to safeguard state sovereignty. He expressed the hope that the two sides would continuously enhance mutually-beneficial cooperation in all areas.

In their meeting, the Chinese and Montenegro presidents agreed that the China-Montenegro relationship has progressed smoothly since the two countries established diplomatic ties more than two years ago.

"China appreciates Montenegro's active efforts for maintaining stability in the West Balkan region, and hopes that all countries in the region can properly solve problems left over by history through dialogues," Hu said.

President Vujanovic said that Montenegro and China have broad areas of cooperation, while his country hopes to see more mutually-beneficial cooperation with China and more investment from Chinese businesses.

Meeting with Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos Horta, Hu said that China was the first country to establish diplomatic ties with Timor-Leste upon its independence in May 2002, and that bilateral ties have developed smoothly over the past six years.

China hopes to maintain high-level exchanges with Timor-Leste, and would like to see more cooperation and coordination between the two sides in United Nations affairs, said the Chinese president.

Horta said that Timor-Leste appreciates the important assistance from China in such fields as infrastructure construction, health and personnel training, and hopes that the two sides will further strengthen economic and trade cooperation.

The president stressed that Timor-Leste supports China's efforts to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Chinese president is expecting another busy day on Friday, as more than 80 heads of state and government and royals are expected to attend the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2008)