China welcomes more British parliament members to visit the country which would bring the bilateral friendly cooperation to a higher level, said Chinese top legislator Li Peng Thursday in New York.
China's National People's Congress (NPC) attaches great importance to developing ties with the British parliament, said Li when meeting with Betty Boothroyd, speaker of the House of Commons of Britain.
"It is quite natural that China and Britain differ in their views on some issues due to the differences in their respective history, culture, tradition, and social systems," said Li, who is the chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC.
Li said that he believed consensus could be expanded through dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and hoped the British parliament would play an active role in promoting the development of relations between the two countries.
Boothroyd agreed that the relations between the legislative bodies of Britain and China should be further strengthened in the interests of promoting overall bilateral ties. She promised her personal efforts to this end.
Li and Boothroyd are attending the three-day millennium summit of the presiding officers of national parliaments, which began here at the United Nations headquarters on Wednesday.
(People's Daily 09/01/2000)
