On the afternoon of May 22, local time, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), who is on an official goodwill visit to Luxembourg, held talks with Laurent Mosar, president of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg in the parliament building.

Mosar first extended a warm welcome for Chairman Wu's visit to Luxembourg, saying that he himself and the Luxembourg parliament have long been looking forward to the visit and believe that this is not only the first visit by a Chinese NPC Standing Committee chairman to Luxembourg, but also the most important bilateral contact between the leaders of the two countries this year. Although time is short, the visit will still have significant and far-reaching impact on bilateral relations.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China-Luxembourg diplomatic ties, and with concerted efforts by the two sides, the relations between China and Luxembourg have been moving ahead smoothly without big ups and downs since then, said Wu. Frequent exchanges of visits by the leaders of the two countries and their exchanges of views on bilateral ties and the issues of common concern have enhanced mutual understanding and trust, he said. China highly appreciates Luxembourg's firm adherence to the one-China principle and its active push for the European Union (EU) to lift an arms sales ban on China to boost Sino-EU ties, Wu said. The Chinese top legislator also said that the two sides, relying on their own respective advantages, have conducted fruitful cooperation in such fields as metallurgy, finance and air transport as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges, which not only benefit both countries and their peoples, but also serve as a good example for the development of the China-EU ties. Wu stressed that the development of the China-Luxembourg ties has proved once again that countries, big or small, definitely can become good friends and good partners as long as they follow the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual trust, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation; respect each other's core interests and major concerns with a long-term perspective; and adhere to the spirit of solving their differences through dialogue. He said China is willing to work together with Luxembourg to keep high-level contacts, enhance mutual political trust, expand bilateral trade and investment as well as mutually beneficial cooperation in finance, aviation and high-tech and promote friendly exchanges on culture, education and tourism to constantly push ahead the bilateral ties.

Wu also emphasized the importance of Luxembourg parliament members' active participation in and support for the development of the Sino-Luxembourg ties. In recent years, China's National People's Congress has carried out friendly exchanges in various forms with the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg and both sides enjoy a sound basis for cooperation. He expressed the hope that the legislative bodies of both countries would make full use of flexible and in-depth parliamentary exchanges to expand their friendly contacts at all levels, conduct candid and in-depth dialogues on state governance, democracy, legal system construction, sustainable development and other issues of common concern and build up mutual understanding. Both sides should also share development experiences, jointly work out cooperation plans, strive to lift the inter-parliamentary ties to a new level and give better play to the important role of parliamentary exchanges in promoting the development of state relations.

Mosar said that the Luxembourg parliament and himself are enthusiastic supporters of and advocates for the friendly cooperation between Luxembourg and China. Mosar said that he had attended the opening ceremony of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and was deeply impressed with China's enormous achievements in social and economic development, adding he has since had a deeper understanding of the prospects for Luxembourg-China cooperation. Luxembourg's parliament hoped to further strengthen its exchanges with the NPC and advance pragmatic cooperation in the fields of education and air transport, so as to make contribution to the development of the Luxembourg-China relations, Mosar said.

In the evening, Mosar held a welcome banquet for Chairman Wu, during which the two leaders exchanged in-depth views on China-EU relations, the European debt crisis and other issues.

Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the NPC Standing Committee Li Jianguo and other Chinese accompanying officials, as well as Vice-Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg Lydie Polfer, Michel Wolter and Lydia Mutsch attended the above activities.

Before the welcome banquet, Chairman Wu and his wife Zhang Ruizhen cordially met with the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Luxembourg and representatives from Chinese-funded institutions, overseas Chinese and Chinese students.