On September 7, 2004, State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan met with Former Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas and his delegation at Zhongnanhai. After hearing Abbas's briefing on the latest developments of the Middle East issue, Tang Jiaxuan said that currently the Middle East situation has become a great concern and the top priority is to abandon violence and continue peace talks as soon as possible. Peace talks are the fundamental approach to resolving the issue and the key is to carry out relevant resolutions of the UN and implement the principle of "land for peace".

Tang Jiaxuan said that as one of the first countries that supported the Palestinian cause and acknowledged the Palestinian State, China has long been providing Palestine with assistance within its available resources and will continue to resolutely support the Palestinian people's righteous struggle for resuming the legitimate rights and interests of their nation. China is willing to work along with the international community including Palestine to push for the just and rational resolution of the Middle East issue at an early date.

Abbas fully agreed to Tang Jiaxuan's views and thanked the Chinese government for providing persistent support and selfless assistance for the Palestinian cause.

Abbas paid this visit to China at the invitation of Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs.