Chinese President Jiang Zemin Saturday met in Tehran with Mahdi Karrubi, speaker of the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis).
Jiang said Karrubi has contributed to the China-Iran friendly relations, noting that to further promote bilateral friendly ties of cooperation caters to the basic interests of the two countries and the two peoples.
He noted that the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) and the Majlis have played an important role in their respective political life and to tighten bilateral contacts will be conducive to the mutual understanding and to furthering the state-to-state friendly ties of cooperation.
Karrubi said Iran and China are both noted for their ancient civilizations and long history.
At present, the two countries have good relations in the political, economic and cultural sectors, he said, adding the Iranian side is ready to explore new areas of cooperation and strengthen its ties with China. He called the parliamentary contacts an important part of this relationship.
Jiang agreed with Karrubi on his viewpoint, saying that parliaments of different countries have different features and the NPC is willing to strengthen contacts with the Majlis and to exchange experiences, so as to promote bilateral friendly cooperation in various fields.
Jiang flew in Tehran from the Iranian city of Shiraz to continuehis state visit. Iran is the last leg of Jiang's two-week five-nation trip, which will finally take him home on April 22. Jiang had ended his state visit to Germany, Libya, Nigeria and Tunisia.