He Luli, vice chairwoman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, met with Wolfgang Schaeuble, vice chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Christian Democratic Union-the Christian Social Union under the German Federal Assembly, and his party in Beijing Monday. 

He Luli said the NPC and the Chinese government attach great importance to Sino-German relations, which have been growing rapidly and in an all-round way and that her country will continue to make joint efforts with the German side to push forward bilateral relations.

China and Germany are expected to enhance their cooperation in trade and other fields since the two countries became important trade partners in the world, she said.

Up to now, she acknowledged, Germany is China's most important trading partner in the European Union, while China is Germany's second most important trading partner, behind the United States, according to sources from Germany.

China wants to see more parliamentary exchanges between the two countries, which can be viewed as a major channel for sound relations, He said.

China and Germany set up a regular parliamentary exchange mechanism during the China visit by Wolfgang Thierse, president of German Federal Assembly in April this year.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2005)