On the afternoon of June 2, 2003, Chinese President Hu Jintao met and had breakfast with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who were attending the leaders informal dialogue meeting between the North and the South. They had an in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern.

Hu said that the developing countries are a major force for maintaining world peace and promoting common development. Organizations made up of developing countries, such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the African Union, and the South American Common Market, have played an important role in strengthening unity among the developing countries and in safeguarding their own rights and interests. Exchanges and cooperation among the developing countries have produced great results in recent years.

Hu stressed that China is a member of the developing countries and has received support from many developing countries in various fields since a long time ago. China cherishes trust and cooperation with developing countries, and always regards it as a cornerstone of its foreign policy to further develop friendly cooperation with developing countries. China will always side with developing countries no matter what changes the international situation will undergo.

The three leaders echoed Hu’s views and spoke highly of the efforts made by China in pushing forward and further developing South-South and South-North cooperation. The three foreign leaders also expressed the hope to keep close contact and deepen cooperation with China so as to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries and contribute to peace and development of mankind.