China's National People's Congress (NPC) had already established bilateral Inter- parliamentary Friendship Groups with many ASEAN countries, said Wang Yingfan, vice chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NPC, in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
Speaking at the 28th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter- Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), Wang said that the China-Cambodia Inter-parliamentary Friendly Group has recently been formed.
"The inter-parliamentary exchange has not only deepened the mutual understanding and friendship between us, but also strengthened our bilateral state-to-state relationship," Wang added.
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has engaged in regional cooperation and international affairs more actively, making important contribution to safeguarding regional peace, stability and development.
Wang pointed out that these successes can not be achieved in the absence of the active role played by the AIPA and all the parliaments of the ASEAN countries.
Over the past year, the exchange and cooperation between China and ASEAN in the fields of politics, economy, society and culture have been deepened and expanded continuously, he said.
In 2006, the total trade volume between China and ASEAN reached more than 160 billion U.S. dollars, increasing by 23.4 percent over the previous year.
"The process of establishing the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has accelerated," said Wang.
In late July, six ASEAN countries and China held the 2007 Pan- Beibu Gulf Economic Cooperation Forum in Nanning, Guangxi of China, during which government officials and scholars from the seven countries reached significant agreement on economic cooperation in the Pan-Beibu Gulf, Wang said.
The Four-day meeting which opened in Kuala Lumpur on Monday is being attended by the delegates of 10 ASEAN countries, as well as the observers including China, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
Source: Xinhua
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