China's National People's Congress hopes to further the friendly relations with the Kazakh parliament, said China's top legislator in Beijing Tuesday.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, told visiting Kazakh President Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev that China and Kazakhstan are close neighbors and complementary in economy, and both have a strong aspiration of developing friendship.

The two nations have also enjoyed common interests in international relations, and over the past 12 years, China and Kazakhstan have built up political trust and economic reciprocal cooperation, Wu said.

"We attach importance to the relationship with Kazakhstan, and whatever changes take place in international relations, China will steadily push forward Sino-Kazakh relations in a healthy and stable way," he said.

Wu said that both China and Kazakhstan have carried out economic restructuring, and a market economy requires relevant laws and regulations, thus the two nations should enhance exchanges in the economic legislative field.

Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan and China have enjoyed long-term friendship, and the bilateral relations have improved in recent years. Kazakhstan takes China as its main cooperative partner, and the Kazakh parliament will promote exchanges with the NPC to contribute to the long-term development of the Sino-Kazakh relationship, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2004)