Jordanian King Meets Vice Chairman of China's NPC

Jordanian King Abdullah Bin Hussein on Sunday held talks in Amman with Tomur Dawamat, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, who is attending the 103rd conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

During the meeting, the monarch thanked China for sending the NPC delegation to attend the six-day conference and recalled his visit to China last year, his first tour of Beijing since he acceded to the throne in February 1999.

He said he witnessed great changes taking place in China after the country carried out its reform policies over 20 years ago. He paid his first visit to China in 1981 when he was a prince.

For his part, Tomur Dawamat expressed his satisfaction with the current status of Sino-Jordanian relations. He said he believed that the bilateral ties would further develop due to joint efforts made by leaders of the two countries.

He said the legislative bodies of the two countries also kept and enjoyed close ties and cooperation, and an upcoming visit to China by Abdu Hadi Majali, Speaker of the Jordanian House of Representatives (lower house of parliament), is expected to further boost parliamentary ties and cooperation between the two countries.

A record 138 delegations with some 1,400 parliamentarians and representatives of international organizations are taking part in the six-day biannual IPU conference.

The IPU, founded in 1889 and now has 144 members representing different countries and territories, is the largest international parliamentary organization.

Its conference serves as an important forum for legislative bodies from countries under different political systems to conduct dialogue and parliamentary diplomacy.



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