Xu Jialu, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, met in Beijing Thursday with Matthias Platzeck, president of the Federal Council of German parliament, and his party.  

Both sides agreed to further parliamentary exchanges so as to improve the relations between the two countries.

Platzeck started his goodwill visit to China on Wednesday at the invitation of Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2005)