China's top legislator Li Peng held official talks with Vytautas Landsbergis, chairman of the Parliament of Lithuania, at the Vilnius International Airport Tuesday on bilateral ties and regional and international issues of common interest.

Li, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, said he was pleased to see that with joint efforts of the two countries, friendly cooperation between China and Lithuania in the fields of politics, economy, and culture has developed continuously in the past nine years since the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries.

He also expressed China's appreciation of Lithuania's adherence to the one China policy.

Li said China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and respects the social systems and paths of development chosen by the peoples of the Lithuania and other Baltic nations.

After the independence of the three Baltic countries, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, China was among the first to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with them, Li said, adding that China understands and respects Lithuania's efforts to join the European Union.

Landsbergis said Lithuania highly appreciates China's policy and positive attitude towards developing friendly relations with the three Baltic nations.

On exchanges between the legislative bodies of China and Lithuania, Li said such exchanges is an important part of the overall bilateral relations, and therefore, the two sides should make joint efforts to further strengthen the relationship.

Li left Lithuania for Minsk, capital of Belarus, after the two finished their talks.

(People's Daily)