During a meeting with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wu said the NPC had always placed great importance on its relations with Pakistan's parliament.

The NPC and the Pakistani parliament had maintained close exchanges and cooperation over the years, playing an active role in consolidating and developing friendly cooperative relations.

He said parliament-to-parliament relations were an important part of nation-to-nation relations and played an important role in promoting relations and understanding between the two countries and their peoples.

He said China and Pakistan shared an all-weather friendship that had grown stronger despite changes in both the international and domestic situations over the past 52 years.

Jamali said Pakistan and China had established good-neighborly relations under the principle of peaceful coexistence.

He said the friendship between the two countries based on mutual trust and respect had withstood the test of time. He hoped Pakistan and China could enhance cooperation and the two peoples could communicate more frequently. Jamali also expressed full confidence in the development of bilateral relations.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2003)