China and Britain have witnessed substantial development of
bilateral relations, said Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee
of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature,
on Friday.
Wu made the remarks here at a meeting with British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown at the Great Hall of the People.
He said dialogue and negotiation mechanisms between the two had
worked well. China and Britain had seen rapid growth in mutual
trade and investment, as well as fruitful cooperation in such
fields as finance, technology, education and culture.
The two shared interests in a wider range of issues since the
economic globalization, and held the same view in active engagement
in international economic cooperation, and the opposition to trade
protectionism, Wu said.
He called for more practical bilateral cooperation in all areas,
and urged the two to work together in international affairs, push
for appropriate settlement of important regional issues, and make
contributions to the interest of the two peoples and to the peace
and stability of the world.
Wu said the NPC attached importance to the exchanges and
cooperation with the British parliament. He hoped the two sides
would increase exchanges to promote mutual understanding and trust
between the two peoples, so as to push for the growth of
Sino-British relations.
Brown said Sino-British ties were becoming strong. The two
shared a wide range of interests and the deepening of mutual
cooperation would bring not only benefits to the two peoples, but
also a positive influence to the world.
Britain is willing to work together with China to expand
cooperation in trade, investment, finance, science, technology,
environmental protection and other areas, and strengthen dialogue
and coordination in international and regional affairs and in
reform of international mechanism, he said. Brown said Britain was
ready to increase exchanges with China in legislative areas,
especially making more exchanges of young politicians, in an effort
to promote bilateral relations.
(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2008)
