CPPCC Chairman Meets Canadian Parliament Leader

CPPCC Chairman Meets Canadian Parliament Leader

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China sincerely hopes to strengthen contacts and cooperation with all peace-loving countries including Canada so as to make its due contribution to solving the problems facing the whole of humanity and to the promotion of world peace and development.

Li Ruihuan, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made these remarks Monday in a meeting with the Senate Speaker of the Canadian Federal Parliament Daniel Hays.

Li, also a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, said since China and Canada forged diplomatic relations over 30 years ago, the two countries have maintained frequent exchanges of high-level visits and ever-growing cooperation in trade and economics, culture and technology.

The two countries enjoy a bright future for friendly cooperation, Li said, adding that so long as they continue to tackle problems in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, equality, and seeking common ground while shelving differences, the bilateral ties are bound to record new progress.

Commenting on the current international situation, Li said that with the acceleration of economic globalization, mutual dependence and mutual interests between nations are growing day by day, and meanwhile, the number of problems demanding common efforts is also increasing.

Under such circumstances, countries must strengthen their coordination and cooperation, Li said, noting that any country that neglects contacts with the outside world will find itself in a disadvantageous position, and any country that belittles other nations and attempts to control the whole world will not succeed, Li added.

Since disparities do exist between countries in terms of historical backgrounds, cultural traditions and economic levels, nations should respect and learn from each other, and strengthen their connections and communication, rather than using such differences as excuses for shunning cooperation and consultations, he noted.

The smooth development of Sino-Canadian ties in the past 30-odd years should be attributed to the good communication and consultations between the two sides, he stressed.

Agreeing with Li's comment on the world situation, Hays said he is deeply impressed by China's great progress in economic development.

He expressed the willingness of the Canadian Federal Parliament to make joint efforts with China to further bilateral ties in the new century.

Li also briefed Hays on the role of CPPCC at Hays' request.