On the afternoon of July 5, 2004, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met at the office building of the Chinese Foreign Ministry with his Kuwaiti counterpart Mohammad Al-Salem Al-Sabah, who was accompanying Prime Minister Sabah on his visit to China, and the two sides exchanged views on bilateral ties as well as the Iraqi question and other regional issues.

        Mohammad appreciated China's successful hosting of the Third Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue, expressed his gratitude for the warm reception that China has extended to the prime minister of Kuwait and the delegation of the 6 finance ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states for a joint visit to China and stressed the great significance of China being chosen as the first leg for the first official visit by the prime minister of Kuwait since he took office, adding that Kuwait would like to further develop its friendly cooperative relations with China in various fields.

        Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing thanked Kuwait for its support to China on the issues related to Taiwan, human rights and China's bidding for the Olympic Games, noting China attaches importance to the visit by the prime minister of Kuwait and the GCC's delegation and positively comments the efforts by Kuwait, the rotating president of the GCC, to push for bilateral cooperation. He added that China would like to work along with Kuwait to promote the all-round development of friendly relations between China and the GCC including Kuwait.