01 August 2004	Sunday	14 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

BEIJING, July 31: Senate delegation, led by Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro, arrived in here on Saturday on fourth leg of its ten-day tour to China.

During its stay in Beijing, the delegation is scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, National People Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference chairman.

Talking to APP, Mr Soomro termed his visit to Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Xian and Shanghai highly successful. It provided him an opportunity to meet local leaders for expanding Sino-Pakistan ties at the grass-root level.

The purpose of Senate delegation's visit to China was to promote parliamentary cooperation with a view to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two countries.

He conveyed greetings from the government and the people of Pakistan to the CPPCC leadership and the people of Xinjiang, Xian and Shanghai.

During his meeting with mayor of Shanghai on Friday, he expressed hope that there would be more exchanges of cultural, intellectuals and journalists delegations from both the sides. He lauded the sagacity of Chinese leadership who led the country towards economic stability.

He appreciated the reforms introduced in the economic sector for improving the infrastructure for economic development and observed that joint ventures in various sectors would be beneficial for the two countries.

Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, welcoming the Senate delegation, remarked that Pakistan and China had a long history of friendship, the present visit would strengthen the bilateral relations and promote better understanding between the people of the two countries.-APP