Armenia's president meets visiting Chinese legislative delegation

Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan received here Wednesday a visiting Chinese delegation headed by Chen Changzhi, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

During the meeting, President Sargsyan expressed his satisfaction for his recent visit to China and said that he appreciated the high-level meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and Chairman of the National People's Congress Zhang Dejiang.

He also said that he was pleased with the dynamics of development of bilateral relations and cooperation in the fields of economy, culture and education, stressing the importance of mutual state visits and inter-governmental cooperation between the two countries.

For his part, Chen Changzhi said "We discussed issues and reached agreements in various spheres of mutual interest," and expressed his gladness over his meetings with senior officials of Armenia's legislative and executive authorities held in the framework of the visit.

According to him, these meetings give new impetus to the interparliamentary and intergovernmental cooperation between the two countries.

On Wednesday, Armenia's National Assembly President Galust Sahakyan also met with Chen and the Chinese delegation and expressed his condolences to the victims of a shipwreck accident in the Yangtze River in China, which killed at least 434 people on June 1.

The Armenian parliamentarian highlighted the importance of strengthening the centuries-old friendly relations between the two countries and stressed that China is one of the major strategic partners of Armenia.

He noted that the state-level meetings of the presidents of the two countries help stimulate the progress of inter-state relations and the development of multilateral cooperation.

"In this context the March's state visit of Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan to China had given a new impulse to the development of the friendly and strategic partnership between our countries," Sahakyan said.

He has also noted the importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the legislatures of China and Armenia, saying that the activity of the Friendship Groups created in two countries parliaments is an important stimulus for the strengthening and development of bilateral ties.

Echoing his Armenian counterpart on the fundamental role of inter-parliamentary cooperation in the context of partnership of the two countries, Chen expressed his readiness to support the development of inter-state cooperation, investment and trade between Armenia and China and active cooperation in the cultural and educational spheres.

Chen also hoped that the Nagorno-Karabakh territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be solved through peaceful means and negotiations, while Sahakyan expressed Armenia's consistent position of principle and supports in all issues for China.

Later, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan also met with the Chinese delegation and expressed his opinion on the current bilateral relations and stressed that China is an important partner of Armenia.

The two sides exchanged views on issues of further expansion of investment, cultural and educational programs aimed at strengthening bilateral ties. The Armenia prime minister thanked the Chinese government for an annual financial assistance and asked the delegation to convey his warm wishes to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Endite