Hu meets premier of Australia’s New South Wales

SYDNEY—Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Morris Iemma, premier of New South Wales in Sydney on Wednesday, soon after arriving from a trip to Canberra, Australia.
In Sydney, President Hu will also attend the economic leaders’ informal meeting of the Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation (APEC) forum scheduled for Sept. 8-9. During his meeting with Iemma, Hu said remarkable progress has been achieved in friendly cooperation between China and the Australian state in recent years.
China is willing to further tap potentials in bilateral cooperation and promote mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, science and technology, education, environmental protection and tourism, Hu said. Sydney, through its successful hosting of the 2000 Olympic Games, has gained precious experience in organizing large-scale sports events, such as the Olympic Games, Hu said. “I hope your city would strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Beijing in this regard.”
Also present at the meeting were Edward Whitlam, Robert Hawke and Paul Keating, all former federal prime ministers of Australia. Hu praised their contributions to the development of Sino-Australian relations and hoped they would continue to follow and show care for bilateral exchanges and cooperation.
Before flying to Sydney, Hu visited a farm in Canberra. After arriving at the farm at Sutton, a small town in northeast Canberra, Hu was greeted by host Ian Cusack and his wife Sarah Cusackand. A whole set of shows demonstrating the daily life in a country that was built on sheep farming were performed. The farm, with 2,800 sheep and 170 cattle, covers an area of 1,700 hectares. Australia farms about 120 million sheep and about one quarter of them are raised in arid and semi-arid inland areas.—Xinhua