China's top legislator, Wu Bangguo, met with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in Beijing Wednesday, calling for more exchanges and cooperation between the two parliaments.

 

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said China and Finland cooperated productively in the fields of politics, trade, culture, education, science and technology, legislation and tourism.

 

The two countries were important trade partners and shared prospects for trade cooperation.

 

Wu said the parliamentary exchanges were important for bilateral relations, noting the NPC and the Finnish parliament maintained close contacts.

 

The Chinese government put much stock into ties with the European Union (EU) which was a very important trade partner, Wu said.

 

Vanhanen said he hoped the two sides could extend cooperation in energy, environmental protection and tourism, and encourage enterprises to step up cooperation and mutual investment in fields like high technology.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2006)