Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), made a speech on Saturday to close the two-day meeting of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) Executive Council, which was attended by more than 100 participants from 30 AAPP members.

"Asian parliaments should give priorities to such key areas as economy, security, education, culture, science and technology when they share legislative experience and practices," said Li, the AAPP president.

"Legislative exchanges are conducive to a better approach to sustainable development, compatibility between domestic legislation and international rules and a joint response to non-traditional security threats, thus boosting national and regional security and safeguarding world peace and stability," Li said.

"Delegates shared the view that enhancing regional cooperation and promoting common development constitute an important policy for Asian countries," he added.

Officially launched in 1999 in Dhaka in Bangladesh, the AAPP has become the largest inter-parliamentary organization in Asia.

The fourth annual meeting of the AAPP will be held on May 7-11 in Manila in the Philippines with the theme "Towards a Hundred Years of Peace."

China's top legislator also met his counterparts from Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Beijing on Saturday on the sidelines of the AAPP Executive Council Meeting.

(China Daily January 27, 2003)