On the afternoon of August 16, 2004, President Hu Jintao met with His Royal Highness Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Nepal at the Great Hall of the People and both sides held friendly talks.

Hu Jintao said that China and Nepal are friendly neighbors and the two peoples have enjoyed a history of friendly exchanges that dates back to more than one thousand years ago. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries 49 years ago, bilateral ties have been developing steadily. Both sides hold mutual respect, trust and support to each other and treat each other as equals. Hu Jintao appreciated Nepal's King and other members of the royal family for their special and important role played in development of bilateral ties and thanked Nepal for its precious support to China in issues related to Tibet and Taiwan.

Hu Jintao indicated that China cherishes the traditional friendship between the two countries and would like to work along with Nepal to continue to deepen bilateral friendly cooperation in various fields based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and in line with the principle of "treating its neighbors well and as partners", so as to push good-neighborly partnership between the two countries to one new level after another.

Paras expressed his full agreement with President Hu Jintao's remarks on bilateral ties. He made high comments on China's support and assistance to his country over the years and felt satisfied with the achievements in bilateral cooperation. He added that Nepal would continue resolutely adhere to the one-China policy and is willing to further strengthen exchanges of high-level visits between the two countries and expand bilateral exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, culture and other areas, in a bid to promote continuous development of bilateral good-neighborly and friendly cooperative relations. Paras also noted that China's development in recent years has left a deep impression on him.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and some other officials attended the meeting.