On May 14, Li Peng, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, met with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam. The two sides held cordial and friendly talks.

Li welcomed the Sultan to attend, together with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) High-Level Meeting on Human Capacity Building to be held in Beijing. Li said China is glad to see that Brunei is playing an increasingly active role in regional and world affairs. In particular, he noted the success of the 8th Leadership Informal Meeting of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Brunei last year.

Li said that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brunei and the bilateral relations have been progressing very smoothly since then, with strengthened friendly cooperation in political and economic areas. The frequent exchange of visits between the leaders of the two countries has played an important role in promoting mutual understanding and trust. Li said that he is looking forward to paying an official goodwill visit to Brunei soon at the invitation of the Brunei government.

The Sultan thanked the Chinese side for its warm and friendly reception. He said that bilateral cooperation in the past decade since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brunei and China has been developing very rapidly. The Brunei side attaches great importance to developing bilateral relations of good-neighborliness and friendship and sincerely hopes that the relationship will be consolidated and strengthened in the coming years and new areas of cooperation explored. The Brunei government and people are looking forward to Li's visit, believing that it will further promote the friendship between the two countries.