On the afternoon of August 20, 2003, President Hu Jintao held talks with Romanian President Ion Iliescu, who was on a state visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Hu spoke highly of Sino-Romanian ties, and said the two peoples share a profound traditional friendship. Sino-Romanian ties have withstood challenges posed by changes in the international arena and in their own domestic situations. China and Romania have witnessed consistent and smooth development since the two countries forged diplomatic relations over 50 years ago. The leaders of the two countries visit each other frequently, promoting mutual trust and friendship. The bilateral cooperation featuring mutual benefit has expanded consecutively and resulted in remarkable achievements. The two countries have conducted all-round exchanges and cooperation in various fields, along with vibrant communication between the two peoples and regions of the two countries. China-Romania relations have maintained good momentum of development.

Hu said China cherishes its traditional friendship with Romania, and attaches great importance to Sino-Romanian ties. China is willing to join hands with Romania to consolidate political relations, enhance bilateral high-level exchanges and expand governmental, parliamentary and party exchanges. China will encourage the two countries' entrepreneurs to increase contacts and jointly work out new approaches to boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation. China would make efforts to push forward the substantial cooperation between the two countries in the fields of science and technology, education, culture and tourism and implement all relevant cooperative agreements. The two countries should strengthen coordination and cooperation in international affairs, and expand their friendly cooperation in a substantial way to push bilateral ties to a new high.

On each other’s domestic situation, Hu spoke highly of Iliescu's leadership, under which Romania maintains political stability and scores continual economic growth. Romania takes an active part in its external exchanges with an ever elevating international status and is becoming a very important power for maintaining and promoting regional peace and stability. Hu reiterated that China respects Romania's choice of its path of development, and its domestic and foreign policies. He said that he appreciated Romania's consistent adherence to the One China policy on the Taiwan issue and other valuable support for China in international affairs.

Iliescu said that he had visited China five times since the 1950s, and witnessed the great changes in China during each trip. Especially since China adopted its reform and opening-up policies some two decades ago, China has recorded rapid social and economic development, and played an increasingly important role in the international arena. As a good friend of China, Romania is pleased at the country's remarkable achievements, and is ready to learn from China's experience. Romania-China relations have featured a good momentum of development in recent years, and high-level political dialogue, economic cooperation and international coordination have been productive and feature encouraging prospects. He reiterated Romania's staunch support for China's principled position on the Taiwan issue.

The Romanian president said that his country was in total agreement with China on further enhancing their friendly ties, and was ready to make joint efforts with China to promote cooperation in politics, trade and economy, science and technology, and education to expand existing cooperation and explore new ways to push forward bilateral friendly and mutually-beneficial cooperation in an all-round way.

After the talks, Hu and Iliescu signed the Joint Statement between the People’s Republic of China and Romania, and attended a signing ceremony of cooperation documents between the two countries.