Bulgaria will further step up parliamentary exchanges and bilateral cooperation with China, National Assembly President Georgi Pirinski said Friday in a meeting with a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In talks with Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Pirinski said it was the accepted policy of Bulgaria's major political parties to develop friendly cooperative relations with China, to stick to the one-China principle and to strengthen coordination with China in international affairs.

He said Bulgaria would further strengthen parliamentary exchanges with China and boost bilateral cooperation in economic, social and other fields.

Li, who is on a four-nation tour which also includes Uzbekistan, Switzerland and Norway, said that China saw Bulgaria as an important partner and a reliable friend.

The bilateral relations have been developing smoothly over more than half a century, featuring political trust, economic cooperation and mutual support in international affairs, Li said.

The Chinese official also vowed to step up exchanges between China's National People's Congress and Bulgaria's National Assembly, as well as to boost trade and economic cooperation.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2006)