IV. Foreign Contact Work
The foreign contact work of the NPC is an important component of the country's overall diplomatic work. We stayed subservient to and continued to serve the country's overall diplomatic work, paid close attention to giving full play to the characteristics and advantages of the NPC's foreign relations work, stepped up friendly contacts with the congresses and parliaments of other countries and actively participated in the activities of international and regional parliamentary organizations, making a positive contribution to efforts to safeguard the current important period of strategic opportunities for the country's development and promote world harmony. The NPC has established mechanisms for regular exchange with the congresses and parliaments of 14 countries and the European Parliament, has established or maintains contact with the congresses and parliaments of 178 countries, has set up bilateral friendship groups with the congresses and parliaments of 98 countries, and has become a member country of 12 international and regional parliamentary organizations and an observing member of 3 multilateral parliamentary organizations. During the past five years the NPC has received 109 delegations led by foreign congressional or parliamentary leaders visiting China and members of the Chairperson's Council have visited foreign countries on 58 occasions. The special committees and functional organs of the Standing Committee have also engaged in a wide variety of forms of foreign contact activities with rich content. A system of joint conferences on foreign affairs work has been set up to improve overall planning and coordination for the foreign contact work of the NPC.
One important result of the foreign contact work of the Tenth NPC was to set up and improve mechanisms for regular exchange with the congresses and parliaments of other countries. First, we established or improved mechanisms for regular exchange with the congresses or parliaments of the United States, Russia, Japan, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Egypt and Brazil and the European Parliament on the basis of the work of the previous two terms of the NPC. A highly representative pattern of mechanisms for regular exchange has been formed to include neighboring countries, developing countries, developed countries and multilateral organizations on all the continents. This group of mechanisms has become an important platform for strengthening strategic dialogue and improving practical cooperation between the NPC and the congresses and parliaments of other countries. Second, through these mechanisms for regular exchange, we have made overall arrangements for exchanges and cooperation at every level and in every area between leaders, special committees and friendship groups of the NPC and their foreign counterparts so that they can carry out substantive dialogue on major issues of common concern. We have also urged all sides to comply with the legally binding documents they have signed. All this has markedly increased the breadth and depth of exchanges and cooperation. The mechanisms for regular exchange preserve the continuity and stability of exchange between the NPC and foreign congresses and parliaments and reduce the impact of the election of new congressional and parliamentary members, change in ruling party and change in leadership in other countries. With the strong support of concerned departments, the General Office of the Standing Committee also sent fulltime personnel to Chinese embassies or diplomatic corps in the above countries and regional parliamentary organizations to strengthen regular contact with their congresses and parliaments.
In our foreign contact work, we always bore in mind the overriding task of creating an excellent international environment for the country's efforts to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, vividly demonstrated the great achievements we had made in reform and opening up, fully described the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, let everyone know about the characteristics and advantages of our system of people's congresses and fully explained China's path of peaceful development. We also strengthened mutual political trust, developed practical cooperation and promoted overall development of the relations between China and other countries. We made use of all sorts of venues and adopted various forms depending on the situation in each country to painstakingly explain our position on issues affecting China's core interests such as the questions of Taiwan and Tibet to increase understanding and support concerning these issues among the congresses and parliaments, governments, legislators and ordinary people of other countries and to deepen the political base for relations between China and other countries.
Over the past five years, the Standing Committee also ratified 74 treaties and agreements concluded between China and other countries or international treaties to which China agreed to abide, and decided on and approved the hiring or dismissal of a number of employees of state organs.