A delegation of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC), led by Vice Chairman of the NPC

Standing Committee Han Qide, left here Saturday to attend the 112th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Manila of the Philippines.

The assembly will last from April 3 to 8. The delegates will hold general debates on political, economic and social situations in the world with the overall theme of the impact of domestic and international policies on the status of women.

They will also discuss topics including the role of parliaments in the establishment and functioning of mechanisms to provide for the judgment and sentencing of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and terrorism; the role of parliaments in establishing innovative international financing and trading mechanisms to address the problem of debt and achieve the Millennium Development Goals; and the role of parliaments in enacting strategies for the prevention, management and treatment of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The IPU, located in Geneva of Switzerland, is an international parliamentary organization of sovereignty countries. It was founded in 1889 as an international parliamentary conference to promote international arbitration, and was changed to the present name in 1922. The current President of the IPU Council is Sergio Paez Verdugo from Chile.

The main aims of the IPU are to promote peace, protect human rights, strengthen cooperation among people of different countries and promote the development of representative institutions.

The IPU admitted China to membership in 1984, and the Chinese NPC delegations have attended every assembly since the 71st Assembly.

Source: Xinhua