Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC), made the remarks when meeting with Sattar I. Safarov, chairman of the Azerbaijan National Assembly's economic policy committee, and his party.

Sino-Azerbaijan relations had maintained a stable development, characterized by increasing economic cooperation and deepening mutual understanding and trust, since the two countries forged their diplomatic ties over ten years ago, Li said.

China, as one of the first countries to set up diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan which borders the Black Sea, valued friendly cooperative ties with Azerbaijan, he said.

Azerbaijan President Geidar Aliyev visited China and met with his Chinese counterpart President Jiang Zemin in 1994. The joint statement signed by the two heads of state laid down the basis for the development of bilateral ties, Li said.

China-Azerbaijan trade was very complementary with a huge potential, Li noted. The two countries should make joint efforts to improve the trade environment and facilitate investment to expand bilateral trade.

Increasing exchanges and cooperation between the NPC and the National Assembly of Azerbaijan were an important component part of bilateral ties, said Li. He hoped both countries could work together to contribute more to promoting bilateral ties.

Safarov said Azerbaijan highly regarded relations with China and ranked China as one of its foreign policy priorities. The exchanges between the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and the Chinese NPC played a vital role in bilateral relations.

He said the Eurasian Continental Bridge, a 10,800-kilometer transcontinental railway being built, started at the port city of Lianyungang in east China's Jiangsu province and ended at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It would revitalize the "Silk Road", the name for an historic trade route that connected China and Europe through mid-Asia in ancient times.

Azerbaijan-China trade relations and economic cooperation would progress to new heights, Safarov said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2003)