Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, met Wednesday with a trans-party delegation of South Korean congressmen led by Deputy Speaker Park Hee-tae.  

Wang said that the relationship between China and South Korea has achieved fast growth in various areas since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 13 years ago.

"China attaches importance to its relationship with South Korea's political parties and parliament," he said. "Further developing the cooperative partnership between China and South Korea is not only in the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also of great significance to promoting the peace, stability, prosperity and development of the Northeast Asian region and the world at large."

Park said he is pleased that the two countries are carrying out frequent exchanges and that the relations between the peoples, parliaments and political parties have been increasingly consolidated.

He said he hoped China would continue playing an active role in pushing for the early resumption of the six-party talks on resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2005)