The meeting seems to show that Jiang still wields significant political power even though he stepped down from all official posts more than a decade ago.
At the meeting, Jiang repeatedly praised President Xi Jinping for acting decisively when dealing with recent unrest in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, and complimented his efforts to forge friendly Sino-US relations during his visit to the US.
A vast country like China needs a strong leader
Xi took decisive action and swiftly took control of the situation in Xinjiang after the recent terrorist attacks, Jiang was reported as saying.
"A vast country like China needs a strong leader,” said Jiang. “[It] inevitably will have all kinds of problems … what is important is that they be dealt with decisively.”
"Xi Jinping is a very capable and intelligent state leader," Jiang was quoted as saying.
A spate of vlolent incidents have occured in Xinjiang in recent years as extremists waged a violent campaign against the Chinese government for regional independence.