Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and U.S. President Bill Clinton pledged on April 8 to continue to build a constructive strategic partnership between China and the United States.

The two leaders made the pledge in their speeches at the welcome ceremony held by Clinton for Zhu on the White House South Lawn in Washington.

"President Jiang Zemin and President Clinton exchanged successful visits and they decided that China and the United States will work together to build a constructive strategic partnership," Zhu said.

He said that such friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries serve the interests of the Chinese and American peoples and the interests of all the peoples in the world, and also serve peace in the world and cooperation by all countries in the world.

Clinton said, "Certainly we can agree that China and the United States can best achieve our hopes in the next century if we continue to build a constructive strategic partnership, a relationship that allows us to make progress on the issues that matter to our people."

Zhu is on an eight-day official visit to the United States, the first by a Chinese premier in 15 years.