In a meeting with Philippine senate president Franklin Drilon and house speaker Manuel Villar, Li said he is glad to meet the Philippine parliament leaders here in New York on the occasion of the millennium summit of the national parliaments, which started on Wednesday.

Noting the traditional friendship and the progress made in various fields of exchange and cooperation between China and the Philippines, Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, said that there are common grounds as well as differences between the two countries.

So long as both sides adopt a rational, pragmatic and constructive attitude, he emphasized, their differences can be solved through friendly consultations.

Li said that increased exchanges between the legislatures will play an important role in promoting the overall cooperation between the two nations.

Drilon said the past 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties have seen a rapid development of relations between the two countries.

And he agreed with Li that parliamentary exchanges constitute an important driving force for the overall bilateral relationship.

Villar also said the Philippine House of Representatives is willing to play an active and constructive role in furthering he Philippine-China ties.

(Xinhua 08/31/2000)