Chinese president gets royal welcome in Morocco

President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China was given a royal welcome in Rabat this Thursday by King Mohammed VI.

Red carpets, flowers and hundreds of people, chanting slogans for the long life of Moroccan-Chinese relations were there to greet the kingdom's guest, who arrived on Wednesday evening in Rabat.

The visit is per se a sign of the Chinese highest authorities' will to give a new impetus to economic and commercial ties with Morocco and hoist them to the level of the already existing excellent political and diplomatic relations.

Despite a tangible growth in the few past years, trade between Morocco and China remain short of the two sides' ambitions and potentials.

Exchanges went up from $100 million in the 1980s to $252 million in 1998. Morocco exports phosphates and fertilizers to China, while imports are made up mainly of tea, finished consumption goods and ceramics.

Zemin perfectly understands the situation and pleads for a stronger cooperation.

"Morocco and China --two developing nations-- are faced with a joint task: that of developing the economy and promoting their populations' living conditions," Zemin told a Moroccan daily.

"The visit will help explore new means to develop (...) a sustained, regular, sound and global cooperation, oriented towards the 21st century," he said.

China also wants to rely on Morocco in matters of multilateral negotiations to come up with a fair world order and defend developing nations' interests.

"Morocco, which is a leading country in North Africa and the Arab world, plays a key role in regional and international affairs," the head of the world's most populated nation said.

"China wants to work with Morocco to put an end to the unfair World economic order," he said.

At the political level, Beijing appreciates Morocco's position backing China's reunification and efforts to promote human rights.

"China is thankful to Morocco for its strong backing (to China) regarding human rights," Zemin said.

He lauded "the far-sighted decision" of late King Mohammed V (grandfather of King Mohammed VI) to "be one of the first African countries to establish diplomatic relations with new China."