Top Chinese legislator meets Argentine President

Top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang on Thursday met with visiting Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on stronger legislative ties.

Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, said during President Xi Jinping's visit to Argentina last year, presidents of the two countries jointly announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Argentina.

During Argentine President's current China visit, the two countries singed a joint statement and a string of cooperation agreements.

These have "charted direction and injected strong momentum into development of relations" between the two countries, said Zhang.

The NPC and the Argentina Congress have done a lot of work in promoting two-way trade, facilitating investment and protecting the rights of investors, Zhang said.

He called on both sides to maintain close ties, implement the consensus reached by their presidents, speed up the approval of inter-government agreements, promote practical cooperation and enhance people-to-people friendship to keep advancing the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Fernandez called her three-day state visit "fruitful."

The two countries will increase cooperation in infrastructure, hydropower, nuclear power, aerospace and aviation to bring their comprehensive strategic partnership to a new high, Fernandez said.

She called for more exchanges and cooperation between the two legislative bodies.

Fernandez will conclude her China visit on Thursday. Endi