Beijing, May 27th—Ma Hui, Vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, met here today with a delegation of the Freedom Party of Austria led by Udo Landbauer, Deputy Leader of the Freedom Party and Deputy Governor of Lower Austria. 

Ma noted that this year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Austria and the launch year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. He expressed the hope that the two sides will seize this important opportunity to improve the quality and efficiency of practical cooperation. He also hoped that Austria will adhere to the one-China principle to cement the political foundation of bilateral relations. The CPC is ready to maintain contacts and conduct dialogue with major Austrian political parties including the Freedom Party, and advance the steady development of the friendly strategic partnership between the two countries via inter-party channels. China and Europe should uphold mutual respect, pursue open cooperation and practice multilateralism to contribute to world peace, development and stability. It is hoped that as an important member of the European Union, the Austrian side will promote a proactive and pragmatic policy towards China of the European side. 

The Austrian side stated that the Freedom Party attaches importance to dialogue and exchanges with China and firmly follows the one-China policy. Guided by the principles of sovereign equality and mutual respect, the Freedom Party stands ready to advance mutually beneficial cooperation with China in trade, investment, technological innovation, sub-national cooperation and other fields, and strive for greater progress in the Austria-China friendly strategic partnership. The Austrian side also expressed willingness to play an active role in promoting the development of the European Union-China relations.