On the morning of May 29, 2006, Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, who was on an official goodwill visit to Russia, held talks with Sergei Mironov, Chairman of the Federation Council (Upper House) of the Federal Assembly of Russia, and co-chaired with him the first meeting of the cooperation committee of the NPC of China and the Russian Federation Council.

Mironov first warmly welcomed Chairman Wu's visit. He said that currently bilateral parliamentary relations remain sound and it is hoped that Chairman Wu's current visit will help further expand cooperation area, explore new cooperation approaches and ensure bilateral parliamentary cooperation to play a more active role in Russia-China relations.

Wu said that over the years bilateral relations have witnessed all-round, in-depth and rapid development, and both sides have established strategic cooperative partnership, signed the Treaty on Good-neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between China and Russia as well as more than 200 legal documents, launched the high-level meeting mechanisms between the heads of state, prime ministers and parliaments of both sides and completely resolved the boundary issue left over from history. Both sides have shown mutual understanding and staunch support on issues of each other's concern, kept close communication and cooperation in international and regional affairs and make substantive progress in cooperation in the key areas of economy & trade, energy, investment and high-tech. Both sides enjoy a more mature relationship at a higher level. This year is an important one for development of bilateral relations with frequent high-level exchanges between both sides and the activities of "Year of Russia" are being conducted vigorously in China with more pragmatic cooperation in all areas. The NPC of China would like to work with the Federation Council of Russia to implement the consensus reached between the heads of state of both countries and make unremitting efforts for development of bilateral strategic cooperative partnership.

Wu noted that last September Chairman Mironov paid a successful visit to China, and both sides jointly signed the General Rules of the cooperation committee of the NPC of China and the Russian Federation Council, launched the regular bilateral exchange mechanism and identified the purpose, tasks and forms of regular bilateral exchange. The first meeting of the cooperation committee co-chaired by both sides marks the institutionalization of China-Russia parliamentary cooperation.

When talking about the cooperation between the NPC of China and the Federation Council of Russia, Wu raised the following 4 proposals. First, parliamentary cooperation should be oriented towards serving the strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia for tangible effects. The legislative functions of parliament should be given full play to revise and improve related laws and regulations in a timely manner and provide the legal guarantee for the development of bilateral ties. The parliaments should supervise the implementation of legal documents signed by their governments and related sides respectively. The parliaments should make the best of their advantages in such areas as information, human resources and wide contacts to promote the major economic and trade project cooperation of the two countries. Second, legislative exchanges should be reinforced to raise the quality of legislation and ensure the coordinated economic and social development. Third, exchanges in the humanities field should be enhanced. In particular, the advantages of the Russian Federation Council should be tapped to promote regional and border cooperation. Fourth, the bilateral coordination and collaboration in international and regional parliamentary organizations should be boosted to safeguard common interest of both countries.

Mironov fully agreed with Wu's comments on bilateral relations and parliamentary exchanges, as well as proposals on strengthening parliamentary cooperation. He said that the convening of the first meeting of bilateral cooperation committee marks another good beginning and a substantive step for bilateral parliamentary cooperation. The Russian Federation Council represents various regions in Russia and it is hoped that this advantage will be given full play to push for regional exchanges and cooperation between both countries, especially pragmatic cooperation in the economic and trade area.

Following the talks, Wu and Mironov jointly met with the journalists.

The cooperation committee of the NPC of China and the Russian Federation Council was established in Beijing last September, with Wu Bangguo and Mironov being the presidents of the Chinese side and the Russian side respectively. The committee holds an annual meeting in the two countries in rotation. At noon, Chairman Wu and his wife Zhang Ruizhen attended the welcome banquet hosted by Mironov.

Chinese accompanying officials including Vice-Chairman Re Di of the NPC Standing Committee were present at the above activities.