Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday met his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympic Games.

Hu first extended a warm welcome to Ahmadinejad and thanked Iran for its support to the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you and other Iranian leaders for the assistance your government provided for the Chinese people affected by the May 12 Sichuan earthquake," Hu said.

“In recent years, China and Iran have made great progress in consolidating their bilateral relationship in various fields,” said Hu.

"Both China and Iran are big developing nations, and have strong economic complementarity and great potential of cooperation," he added.

President Ahmadinejad congratulated Hu on the success of the Beijing Olympic Games, and wished a complete success for the Beijing Paralympic Games the opening ceremony of which was scheduled on Saturday night.

As two ancient civilizations, Iran and China share the common aspiration to strengthen bilateral exchange and cooperation, said the Iranian leader.

On the Iran nuclear issue, the Chinese president pointed out that the Chinese side respects Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, supports safeguarding the international non-proliferation regime, and adheres to the peaceful settlement of the Iran nuclear issue through dialogues and negotiations.