China and Russia's top legislative bodies held a roundtable meeting in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Monday, agreeing to bolster bilateral trade cooperation by enhancing legal exchanges.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), and Russian Federation Council chairman Sergei Mironov attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches.

"We should promote trade cooperation between the two countries, on big projects for example, and ensure companies learn about relevant laws so that trade can be regulated more efficiently," said Wu.

Wu suggested the two governments implement the legal documents signed by the two countries under the supervision of the legislature to "create a sound legal environment for the China-Russia strategic cooperation partnership".

Trade volume between China and Russia hit 29.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, compared to seven billion dollars 10 years ago.

On legal exchanges, Wu hoped the two countries could learn from each other in such fields as employment, social security, education and environmental protection. "China is willing to learn from Russia because it has a rich legislative experience in managing non-governmental organizations and the Internet."

The roundtable discussion is a nation-level "Year of Russia" program, one of more than 130 activities staged in China this year. The Year of China will take place in Russia in 2007.

Source: Xinhua