Top Chinese legislator meets Belgian parliament speaker

Top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang on Tuesday met with Belgian Parliament Speaker Andre Flahaut in Beijing. Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, reviewed the growth of China-Belgium relations, citing deepened political trust, expanded pragmatic cooperation and friendly exchanges between the NPC and the Belgian Parliament. He proposed the two countries step up friendly exchanges and cooperation at multiple levels and seek a better growth of bilateral relations. The top legislator also called for Belgium to play a bigger role in supporting China-Europe relations. Flahaut underscored the Belgian Parliament's commitment to maintaining ties with the NPC and taking a long-term view of developing ties with China. He said the parliament would like to take more measures to deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields.