Austria and China have maintained good cooperative relations despite their different political systems, and both sides are maintaining a pragmatic dialogue based on mutual respect, Austrian President Heinz Fischer said on the weekend before his state visit to China.

Fischer will pay a four-day visit to China from Jan. 19 to 22, the first of its kind after former President Thomas Klestil paid an official visit to China in 2001.

In an interview with the Chinese media in the Austrian capital Vienna, Fischer said he was eagerly anticipating his upcoming visit to China. He described the visit as "very important" and added that his government "has prepared for the trip very carefully."

Fischer announced he would lead "a large delegation" to visit China, including a number of Austrian ministers, state secretaries and some other senior officials. A large number of economic, cultural, science and technology representatives will also form part of his retinue.

During his China visit, he will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao.

Fischer said Austria’s exports have declined substantially after the global economic crisis in 2008, but exports to China were doing well, even showing a rising trend between the two countries.

He emphasized that "this is a solid basis" for the two countries to develop friendly bilateral relations.

Fischer said his first visit to China was in 1974. Recalling his first visit, he said he, as science and technology minister at the time, signed a number of cooperation agreements with China on behalf of the Austrian government.

Fischer was excited when talking about his first visit to China. He even showed Chinese journalists some photos taken during the visit, among them photos of him with Deng Xiaoping, who initiated China's economic reforms and opening-up policy, and other top Chinese leaders.

Fischer said he has visited China many times. He remarked that he had witnessed great economic growth and lots of changes in China after the country adopted economic reforms and an opening-up policy in late 1978. "I've always been concerned about China’s developments," he added.

"Regarding the international political and economic fields," Fischer said, "China has now become one of the world’s most important countries." China, the world’s most populous country and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, "is now among the world's three major economies after the United States and the European Union (EU)," Fischer said.

"China not only has a large export capacity, but also exercises a huge influence on the world's political affairs and other issues," he observed.

"I hope through this visit and meetings with Chinese leaders, I'll be able to further strengthen the mutual understanding and trust and further promote economic cooperation relations between the two countries."

During his visit to China, the Austrian president said he will exchange views with Chinese leaders on such major international issues as Iran, energy and climate change.

He will also attend a number of major economic activities and some bilateral cooperation agreement signing ceremonies.

Fischer said he believed his visit to China will help reinforce the development of long-term friendly cooperation between the two countries. "China is now a global power and an important partner to cooperate with to deal with major international and regional issues on the basis of equality and mutual understanding," he said.

He added that no country had the intention to dominate the other; instead, both countries wanted to maintain a good partnership based on mutual trust.

Concerning China’s development process, Fischer admitted that there are still some problems between the two countries. But in this regard, Austria is unable or unwilling to exercise any influence on China. "We are only aiming at providing and exchanging some information (with China)," he said.

When asked about his opinion on EU-China relations, Fischer said both Europe and China should continue their efforts to further enhance mutual trust."We hope the two sides reduce barriers for imports and exports and continue dialogues on human rights," he said. Fischer believed that this is the only way EU-China relations could be effectively and actively developed.

Fischer concluded his interview by stating that despite the fact that China has been developing rapidly, the country still faces some difficult tasks. Although he did not comment on the nature of these tasks, he said: "I hope the Chinese government and people are able to complete these tasks successfully and peacefully."