China, Chile pledge closer legislation cooperation

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese legislator Wang Zhaoguo on Thursday met with Patricio Melero Abaroa, president of Chile's Chamber of Deputies, pledging to enhance legislation cooperation between the two nations.

China's National People's Congress (NPC) is willing to deepen its friendship and cooperation with the National Congress of Chile, said Wang, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, adding that the two sides could learn from each other in law-making and other fields to enrich their bilateral ties.

"Over the past 42 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, especially since the forging of the China-Chile comprehensive cooperative partnership in 2004, the two nations have witnessed frequent high-level interactions, fruitful economic and trade cooperation, colorful people-to-people exchanges and close coordination in multilateral affairs," Wang said.

The Chinese side is ready to make joint efforts with the Chilean side to take the bilateral ties to a new phase, he added.

For his part, Melero also said the National Congress of Chile looks forward to stepping up exchanges and cooperation with the NPC to make more contributions to the development of the bilateral relations.

Melero is heading a delegation of Chile's Chamber of Deputies to China from Jan. 12 to 18, at the invitation of China's top legislator Wu Bangguo.