NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2005 (Xinhuanet) -- The top lawmakers of China and Russia agreed here Thursday to strengthen parliamentary cooperation for the all-around advancement of bilateral ties.

    Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC), and Boris Gryzlov, president of the Russian State Duma, met here on the sidelines of the Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments.

    Wu commended relations between the two countries and noted thatin recent years, China's NPC and the Russian State Duma have set up and launched regular communication mechanisms, injecting vitality into the development of bilateral ties.

    He called for continuous efforts to enrich the substance of the regular communication mechanisms in order to bring their role into better play.

    Wu suggested that the two sides carry out exchanges in the fields of legislature and humanities, advance cooperation between local governments and enterprises, and strengthen consultation andcoordination in multilateral settings so as to make fresh contributions to the comprehensive development of Sino-Russian ties.

    Gryzlov, for his part, said Russia-China relations are now at their best time in history, and that the Russian State Duma attaches great importance to its ties with China's NPC.

    He agreed to Wu's suggestion on strengthening bilateral regular communication mechanisms, saying Russia hopes to work jointly withthe Chinese side to promote the all-around development of bilateral ties. Enditem