China, Myanmar pledge closer legislative ties

China and Myanmar on Saturday vowed to strengthen exchanges in their legislative and governance experience to cement the bilateral ties.

Top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang, while meeting with Myanmar's President U Thein Sein, said that China's National People's Congress stands ready to comprehensively implement the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation with Myanmar's parliament.

He urged the two parliamentary bodies to actively push forward the China-Myanmar pragmatic cooperation in various areas so as to promote the healthy and stable development of the bilateral ties.

China and Myanmar, both in the key time of reforms and development, should keep their bilateral relations on the right track and make their comprehensive strategic cooperation more fruitful, Zhang said.

A good relation between China and Myanmar has important strategic meaning for promoting the development and stability of the two countries.

U Thein Sein, who is in Beijing to attend a dialogue on strengthening connectivity partnership, said that his country attaches great importance to its relations with China.

He thanked the Chinese side for its assistance and support, vowing to expand cooperation of mutual benefit and jointly push forward the building of the "One Belt and One Road," or the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that were put forth by Chinese President Xi during visits to Central Asia and Southeast Asia in 2013.

U Thein Sein hopes that the legislative bodies of Myanmar and China can strengthen exchanges in a bid to promote the bilateral relations.