Vietnam highly values the development in the relations between the parliaments of Vietnam and ASEAN member countries, and always attaches importance to the consolidation and development of the relations between Vietnamese and Chinese law-making bodies and peoples.

National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said this while welcoming ASEAN and Chinese delegates to the 7th Conference on ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship Organisations in Hanoi on August 17.

She also expressed her wish that the parliaments of ASEAN member countries would continue to boost the exchange of delegations and coordination to reach a common voice at regional and international inter-parliamentarian forums.

Gu Xiulian, president of the China-ASEAN Association and head of the Chinese delegation to the conference, briefed Ngan on the conference’s outcomes.

Gu said she hopes the China-ASEAN Association and other countries’ friendship organisations will join hands to build Asia of peace, stability and development, helping lift the friendship and cooperation between China and ASEAN to a new level.

Themed "Solidarity, Friendship, Cooperation and Development", the 7th Conference on ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship Organisations closed in Hanoi on the same day.

The head delegates to the two-day event signed a 2012-2013 cooperation programme among the ASEAN-China people’s friendship organsiations.

Vu Xuan Hong, head of the Vietnamese delegation, handed over the conference’s flag to the representative of the Philippines-China friendship organisation, which will host the next meeting in the Philippines in 2013.

The first conference of ASEAN-China People to People Friendship Organisations was held in Beijing in May 2006.-VNA