BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah met here on Monday with Hua Jianmin, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), and they pledged efforts to boost the good-neighborly relations between the two countries.
Hassanal Bolkiah said Brunei and China are traditionally friendly neighbors and share a long history of exchanges.
The friendly and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries has been going on smoothly in various fields since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, he said.
Brunei attaches great importance to developing good-neighborly relations of cooperation with China and is ready to further promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation in political, economic, energy, tourism, and cultural areas, he said.
Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and is also the China-Brunei Friendship Year, Hua said China is ready to work with Brunei to further advance bilateral cooperative ties.
On Sunday and Monday, Hua also met separately with Brunei Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Prince Mohamed Bolkiah and State Legislative Council Speaker Pehin dato Haji Awang Isa.