Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. President Bill Clinton met the press after their formal talks at the Great Hall of the People on the morning of June 27. Following is the full text of Jiang's opening remarks at the press conference:

Just now we held formal talks. The two sides made extensive and profound exchange of views on Sino-U.S. relations and major international and regional issues. The talks were positive, constructive and fruitful.

The successful mutual visits between the two heads of state of the two countries marked that Sino-U.S. relations have entered a new stage of development. This not only accords with the common interests of China and the United States but also is of important and positive significance to promoting the peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world as a whole.

Peace and development are the two main themes of the times, an era full of hopes and challenges. Under the new historical conditions, the common interests between China and the United States are increased instead of being decreased. The foundation of cooperation between the two countries is strengthened instead of being weakened.

The two sides beleive that the two countries, both as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, should make concerted efforts to promote peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region, ease and remove various tense situations, prevent the proliferation of mass destructive weapons, enhance environmental protection, crack down on international crimes, drug trafficking and international terrorism.

Both sides agreed to further increase the dialogue and cooperation between the two countries in major international issues. The Sino-U.S. relations are improving and developing and both sides have achieved important progress in many areas of cooperation.

President Clinton and I decided that China and the U.S. will not target each other with the strategic nuclear arms under our control. This shows the whole world that China and the U.S. are cooperative partners instead of adversaries.

I reiterate here again that since the day when China began to possess nuclear weapons, it made the commitment not to be the first to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances.

President Clinton and I have reached extensive consensus on further enhancing the Sino-U.S. exchanges and cooperation in the bilateral ties and many other areas.

We have agreed to take positive steps to promote the constant development of the mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation relations between China and the U.S., expand the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in fields of energy, environment, science, education, culture, health, law and military, as well as enhance the communications and friendship between the people of the two countries.

We have also agreed to strengthen consultations and cooperation between China and the U.S. on the issues of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation. We also issued joint statements on the protocol to the Biological Weapons Convention and on the issues of anti-personnel land mines and the South Asia.

The Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-U.S. relations, and we hope that the U.S. side will abide by the principles and the commitments laid down in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques and the joint statement to ensure the smooth development of Sino-U.S. relations.

The improvement and development of Sino-U.S. relations have been hard-earned thanks to the joint efforts by the governments and people of the two countries, and we should all the more treasure it.

Although China and the U.S. have different social systems, ideologies, concepts of values, cultural background and traditions and differing views on some issues, they should not hinder the development of Sino-U.S. ties.

The world is a colorful one, and the road of development for each country should be decided by its own people.

China and the United States should examine and handle bilateral relations from the strategic height and a long-term perspective. We should promote the bilateral ties in a spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and of seeking common ground while reserving differences.

I believe we will make continued progress toward building a 21st century-oriented constructive strategic partnership with joint efforts of both sides.