Visiting top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo held talks Wednesday with Abdelaziz Ziari, speaker of the Algerian National Assembly, on issues of common concern and they agreed to boost bilateral relations and cement cooperation between the two parliaments.

China and Algeria always handle the bilateral relations from a strategic perspective, said Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), highlighting that the relations have endured the test of time since the two countries established diplomatic relations 50 years ago.

Wu expressed his appreciation of Algeria's adherence to the one-China policy, noting that China respects the choice Algerian people have made on path to develop their own nation.

China feels satisfied with the current bilateral cooperation especially with the two-way collaboration at multilateral occasions on issues of UN reform, human rights and anti-terrorism, he said.

Wu offered a four-point proposal to promote China-Algeria relations: firstly, maintain high-level exchange and increase political mutual trust; secondly, expand the substantial cooperation especially in infrastructure, agriculture and energy for mutual benefit; thirdly, intensify the exchange on humanitarian issues to carry out the traditional friendship; and lastly, strengthen coordination with an aim to safeguard the common interests.

Ziari, for his part, called Wu's visit to Algeria "a big event" for the bilateral relations and "a symbol" marking a higher level of the inter-parliamentary cooperation.

The speaker agreed with Wu's views on the bilateral relations and recalled the fact that China was the first non-Arab country who recognized Algeria's independence and forged the diplomatic relations with it, while expressing his gratitude to China's assistance to Algeria's national development.

Algeria and China shared a solid foundation to foster ties and Algeria would unswervingly support China's constructive role on world affairs and make joint efforts with China to transfer the political will of developing ties into real actions so as to enrich the bilateral cooperation and enhance the strategic and cooperative ties, Ziari said.

On the inter-parliament cooperation, Wu said one of his main purposes of the visit is to further promote the friendly relations between the two parliaments and push forward the cooperation among the various special inter-parliamentary committees and friendly groups.

Ziari highlighted the commitment of the Algerian National Assembly to promoting the friendly relations with the NPC, calling on the two sides to boost cooperation so as to inject new vitality into the bilateral cooperation.

The two parliament leaders also signed a memorandum on the inter-parliamentary cooperation after the talks.

Wu, who is on the first leg of his five-nation Africa tour, also met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the day. Wu spoke highly of the bilateral relations, saying the ties between the two nations are "in their best time."

Wu said the good political relations should work effectively to promote the development of the trade cooperation, pledging that China would make concerted efforts with Algeria to step up cooperation with mutual benefit and give a fully play to the two business communities especially on some big projects which could help push forward the overall development.

The Chinese government would encourage Chinese enterprises with good reputation to start their business and invest in Algeria, and it also welcomes Algerian companies to further their investment, Wu told Bouteflika.

Echoing Wu's views, Bouteflika said China is a sincere friend of Algeria, noting that the North African country expects to work closely with China and hopes to see more Chinese enterprises to invest in Algeria.

Algeria and China should work together on such fields as energy and resource, infrastructure and telecommunication, the president added.

The two leaders also called on the concerned parties of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum to strengthen their cooperation to further carry out the agreements inked at the Beijing Summit and focus on the next-phase cooperation at an early date.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2008)