Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo met respectively with Pier Ferdinando Casini, president of the Council of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee who heads an eight-member congressmen delegation from the United States.

In his meeting with Casini, Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), expressed his appreciation for the unique role played by the IPU to help address various international issues, noting that China is grateful to the union for its support on the Taiwan, Tibet and human rights issues.

The top legislator also called on the IPU to continue to improve its efficiency and work closer with the parliaments of various countries.

This will help push forward the development of relations among nations and promote the democratization process in international relations, Wu added.

As an important IPU member, the NPC will continue to boost ties with the organization and make efforts to score progress on multilateral parliamentary cooperation, Wu stressed.

Casini spoke positively on the contribution that the NPC made to promote the IPC reform and development, stressing that the organization values the ties with the NPC and expects a larger role that the NPC could play on various IPU issues.

When meeting with Skelton, Wu hailed the progress on the relations between China and the United States, noting the two, sharing increasingly comprehensive common interests, worked together effectively on some significant regional and international issues.

Both as very important nations of the world, China and the United States should properly handle bilateral relations from strategic and long-term perspectives, which are not only in line with the fundamental interests of the two nations, but conducive to peace and development of the world, Wu said.

Skelton said inter-parliamentary exchanges and dialogue have strengthened mutual understanding and trust.

The delegation, on a five-day visit to China, already visited a monument dedicated to the famed "Hump Route" flying squadron in Kunming, capital city of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2007)