On the evening of June 24, 2004, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met with and held a banquet for the delegations to the third round of the six-party talks in Diaoyutai State Guest Hotel.

In his remarks, Li Zhaoxing said that this round of talks had enjoyed a good start. The parties put forward some new suggestions and thoughts, which injected originality into the talks. Of course, good things never come easy. To accomplish the glorious mission, it is necessary to exercise patience, make use of wisdom, be creative, surmount a lot of difficulties and go through some twists and turns.

Li Zhaoxing said that people are the most valuable in the world and what people want most is peace. Actually, what we are doing is just to resolve the crux through dialogue, safeguard peace and enable our people to jointly create and enjoy a better life in a peaceful and stable environment.

Currently, the attention of the whole international community is focusing on Diaoyutai and Beijing. We are expected to progress further in this round of talks. I believe that with the hard work of all the parties of the talks, we will be able to walk closer and closer towards and finally attain the lofty goal. Let's continue to make unremitting efforts together to that end.