国内英语新闻:Top Chinese legislator starts Colombia visit

BOGOTA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang on Sunday arrived in Bogota, capital of Colombia, for an official goodwill visit to promote bilateral relations, particularly the legislative ties.

Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, is making the visit at the invitation of President of Colombian Congress Jose David Name Cardozo.

This is the first ever visit to Colombia by a top Chinese legislator since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1980.

During his stay in Bogota, Zhang will meet with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and hold talks with Name and President of Chamber of Representatives Fabio Raul Amin Saleme.

Zhang's visit will give a strong boost to the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries and the two legislatures and promote the all-round cooperation between China and Latin America, Chinese Ambassador to Colombia Wang Xiaoyuan said, highlighting growing political trust, soaring trade volume and robust people-to-people exchanges.

China-Colombia trade totalled 10.45 billion U.S. dollars in 2013. From January to September this year, their two-way trade stood at 12 billion dollars, 54.4 percent higher than that in the same period of last year, and is poised for another record annual high.

Columbia is the second leg of Zhang's ongoing nine-day Latin America tour, which also includes Peru and Mexico.