China willing to enhance legislative exchanges with Slovakia: senior official

BRATISLAVA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- China's National People's Congress (CNPC) is willing to enhance full-level exchanges with the Slovak National Council in various fields, give full play to the functions of the legislative body and make contributions to the greater development of bilateral relations, Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of CNPC Standing Committee, said in Bratislava.

Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the statement while leading a delegation to visit Slovakia from Monday to Wednesday.

In Bratislava, Li respectively met with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Slovak National Council Speaker Richard Rasi. He also held talks with Deputy Speaker of the Slovak National Council Tibor Gaspar.

Li said that under the strategic guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Slovak leaders, the development of the China-Slovakia strategic partnership has entered a new stage. Both sides should continue to consolidate political mutual trust, deepen traditional friendship, and firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, building up the foundation of bilateral relations.

This year marks the first year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, and the Chinese economy is performing well, Li noted.

China will share development opportunities with other countries across the world through high-quality development, he said, adding that China is willing to strengthen strategic alignment with Slovakia, deepen and expand practical cooperation in trade and investment, new energy, digital economy and other fields, promote high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road projects and China-Central and Eastern European Countries cooperation, and enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, bringing more benefits to both peoples.

The Slovak side said they attach great importance to China's status as a major country and the friendly relations between Slovakia and China. Slovakia firmly adheres to the one-China policy and is ready for close exchange and cooperation with China in economic, trade, cultural and other fields.

They welcomed more Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Slovakia, and said the government will strengthen exchanges between both legislative bodies and promote the Slovakia-China strategic partnership to be more dynamic.

Li also held discussions with representatives of Chinese enterprises in Slovakia and watched a photo exhibition on the 70th anniversary of the Sino-Czech-Slovak Friendship Farm. Enditem