Top legislator meets foreign leaders on the eve of Olympic Games

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-07 19:52

BEIJING - Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo met here with visiting Lao President Choummaly Saygnasone and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula on separate occasions on Thursday, a day before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress(NPC), welcomed the two presidents to come to attend the opening ceremony of the Games, saying that their arrivals showed their "support for the Games".

Everything for the Games is ready, Wu said.

During the meeting with Choummaly, Wu expressed gratitude for the help and support offered by Laos when China suffered a snow disaster in the southern areas and the May 12 strong earthquake in the southwest. He said China and Laos are good neighbors, friends and partners, and the Chinese government and the NPC would work with the Lao government and parliament to further bilateral ties.

Choummaly said Laos valued relations with China and would continuously enhance the relationship between the two countries. He wished China to hold a successful Olympic games.

While meeting with Lula, Wu said he wished that athletes of Brazil, as a sports power, would succeed in competition during the Beijing Games.

He said China and Brazil had cemented the strategic partnership, and the legislative organs of the two countries maintained frequent contact. China would promote mutually beneficial cooperation with Brazil.

Lula said he would take the opportunity of the Olympics to exchange views with Chinese leaders on the development of the strategic partnership between the two nations.

He pledged to deepen the strategic partnership with China.

The Beijing Olympic Games will start on Friday. More than 80 heads of state and government and royals will attend the opening ceremony Friday night in China's National Stadium, better known as the Bird's Nest.