Over the past five years, the 9th NPC Standing Committee, China's top legislature, has received more than 440 delegations from foreign parliaments, and their visits have helped increase their understanding of China, said Li Peng in his report on the work of the 9th NPC Standing Committee to the third plenary meeting of the first session of the 10th NPC.

He said NPC has deepened its relations with congresses of neighboring countries and expanded friendly ties with congresses of other developing countries, adding that it has maintained a high-level exchange of visits with parliaments of Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States and has set up regular communication mechanisms with congresses of various developed countries like the United States and France.

Li said that the 9th NPC Standing Committee has taken an active part in multilateral parliamentary diplomatic activities.

He said during the Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments in 2000, the Chinese delegation won widespread approval when it urged congresses across the world to actively promote the process of multi-polarization and economic globalization.

The 9th NPC Standing Committee hosted the third annual session of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace, the 7th General Assembly of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development and the 3rd Asia-Pacific Parliamentarians' Conference on Environment and Development, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2003)