国内英语新闻:Chinese top legislator meets with Russian PM

BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese top legislator Zhang Dejiang met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday and they agreed to strengthen legislative ties between the two countries.

Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress(NPC), said during the meeting that the state leaders of China and Russia reached an important consensus in March on enhancing the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and decided the direction for the two sides' cooperation.

"I held talks with the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation recently and confirmed the development of bilateral ties as the pivot of the two countries' legislative cooperation. Increasing communication on legislative experience and creating a better legal environment are determined as the key areas for cooperation," Zhang said, adding that he believed that the pragmatic cooperation between the two sides will help greatly in maintaining high-level China-Russia relations.

Medvedev said bilateral ties between the two countries have made great progress.

Russia is committed itself to further developing bilateral ties and underscores the important role of communication between the two legislative bodies, he said.

Medvedev also voiced hope to strengthen communication between the two countries and promote their strategic cooperation.